Fighting Fate
by scared of clouds
Summary: It may have taken him a while to get to this point, but James Potter is happy with his life; as the captain of the pirate ship Fawkes, no-one tells him what to do or where to go. But when he agrees to carry a passenger - for a fee, of course - his life takes a rather interesting and wholly unexpected turn, and the past may be about to catch up with him. Jily AU, cover art by Viria.
1. A Rather Unconventional Agreement

**A/N: Hey guys, I know A/Ns are boring, but this one is important, so please indulge me and read it!**

**First of all, this is obviously AU, and it's _wildly_ AU. There is no magic in this fic, and it is set in a wholly fictional world because that suits my purposes. If that doesn't work for you, back out now.  
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**I have also done practically no research on ships, sailing, pirates etc for this; I'm not intending to write something realistic. I am sure that I will make mistakes about the more technical stuff; again, if that's going to bother you this might not be for you. **

**I am also not sure how long it will be. I plotted quite a complicated history for my fictional world, and intended to write a short fic that was almost an extract from a larger story; now I'm tempted to write the whole story. We'll see how it goes.**

**Anyway, this is for JilyPirateFest over on Tumblr, and big thanks go to GloriousLilyEvans for suggesting I write something for it. Points if you can spot the Doctor Who joke that I wrote without realising, spotted in editing and left in anyway. **

**I'm just going to take this opportunity to let you all know that - contrary to what you might have thought - I am not JK Rowling and therefore do not own any of the characters/places etc that I am about to shamelessly use for my own ends.**

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The pub was just off a small back alley, and it was loud, dirty and more than a little crowded. The thing that struck Alice the most though, was the smell, the stench of stale beer and rum not quite concealing the lingering damp mustiness of mould. It hit her as soon as she pushed open the door and stepped into the warm, dully lit interior and she almost gagged on it. It had been a long time since she'd been in a place like this, and the pub was an assault on the senses; the smell was overpowering, the noise deafening and she immediately began to regret ever agreeing to this.

But agree to it she had, so she pulled her cloak more tightly around herself, taking care to fully cover her brown curls with the hood, and glanced around the room, her eyes taking in the assembled mass of wenches, pirates and cutthroats laughing and drinking and occasionally fighting. No-one paid much attention to her; she was good at blending in, always had been. It was an excellent habit to cultivate when you were destitute and eking out a living by whatever dishonest method presented itself. She hadn't lived that life for several years now, thanks to Lady Lily, and she owed her more than she could ever repay. Enough to do this for her, even if it was against her better judgement.

Alice moved quietly through the room, avoiding contact with anybody until she found a seat in the corner furthest away from the bar and relatively close to the door; old habits die hard, and she didn't want to be caught too far from the exit if there was trouble. It was a good spot; she could see most of the room without being observed herself, and she settled down, keeping her eyes and ears alert even as she skulked behind her hood and pretended to be ignorant of everything around her.

When the sour-faced waitress came past, she ordered a cup of rum and paid for it without complaint, leaving the cup untouched on the table in front of her. She sat there for some time until someone eventually caught her interest; a tall but lean man a few tables away from her. He had a handsome face, framed with thick dark hair and an unusually bright smile. He smiled and laughed a lot, but most importantly he talked a lot about _his crew_.

She waited until he was alone at the table, his companions having wandered off with some wenches and the wench he was with having gone to the bar to fetch him a drink. She slid coolly into the seat directly opposite him and spoke without preamble, adjusting her hood so that it still shadowed her face from everyone but him.

'I heard you talk about your crew. Are you by chance a pirate captain?'

He looked at her appraisingly, and it suddenly struck her that she may have made a misjudgement, because he certainly wasn't as drunk as he had seemed to be from a distance. His grey eyes were shrewd, if playful, and she had the sudden uncomfortable feeling that he was able to see right through her. Abruptly he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms up and clasping his hands idly behind his head.

'Pirate, yes. Captain, no. I'm not much of one for what you'd call…responsibility.'

He flashed her a quick, dazzling grin and she momentarily lost her train of thought; the blonde who'd been sitting with him moments before returned with his drink and scowled at Alice, though she knew that the wench couldn't possibly see her properly, certainly not well enough to realise that she was female. He gave her a friendly pat on the bum and flashed her a toned-down version of the smile he'd just given Alice.

'Why don't you give me five minutes with my young friend here sweetheart? Come back in a bit.'

She pouted for a moment, but seeing that he was unmoved by it she flounced off towards the bar, leaving the two of them alone. He turned back to Alice and cocked his head slightly as he observed her, and she forced herself not to fidget nervously. She knew that she didn't exactly fit in with her current surroundings anymore, but she'd been banking on no-one paying much attention to her, and up to this point she'd been right. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table edge as he looked at her.

'So you are looking for a pirate captain then are you my lovely?'

She nodded slowly, unwilling to offer him any more information than that for the moment. He pursed his lips and glanced around the room. 'Well, there's one or two in here all right. Why don't you tell me why you're looking for one, and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction? I mean, you're a pretty thing, and there are pirates and then there are _pirates. _Was it a specific one you were looking for, or do you just have a craving?'

She glared at him as he winked at her, but her attempt at silent admonishment fell flat as he simply continued to watch her with an encouraging expression. She looked him over suspiciously, but saw nothing more sinister than curiosity in those oddly coloured eyes. She leaned across the table so she could keep her voice low.

'I'm _looking_ for a man who would be interested in performing an easy task for a rather large reward.' Seeing that she had his interest, she continued in hushed tones. 'I have a friend - a lady – who needs to travel to the port of Spinner's End.'

The dark-haired stranger's eyebrows rose. 'That's an extremely unsavoury port for a lady to want to travel to.'

'Which is why she needs to travel on a pirate ship to get there; no honest captain would take her.' She spoke in challenging tones, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

'True enough, but what business could a lady have in Spinner's End, one of the most notorious pirate ports to exist?'

'That would be _her own_ business.' Alice shot back. 'I seek safe passage for my friend and nothing more should need be divulged.'

'Safe passage on a pirate ship might be hard to come by for a lady.' He spoke blandly, but his words were the crux of her problem; putting Lily on a pirate ship would be like putting a lamb in front of starving lions, but a pirate captain was the only kind of seafarer who could safely – for a given value of safely - travel into Spinner's End. While she wasn't keen on entrusting Lily to a highwayman by another name, she'd eventually agreed to try and find one nonetheless, hoping that for a high enough price she could find a captain both willing and able to control his crew.

Alice nodded her acknowledgment of his point. 'You see my problem. My friend will pay three hundred galleons for _safe_ passage from here to the port. I just need to find a captain who will agree to our terms and guarantee her wellbeing.'

He took a swig of his drink and looked speculatively over his cup at her for a moment. 'For that kind of money, I'm fairly sure my captain will do it; I'll convince him anyway. Sirius Black - second mate on the Fawkes.' He gave her a quick grin and offered her his hand; she shook it carefully as he continued to speak. 'He's a decent sort, for a pirate. So is the first mate. Your lady will be safe enough; safer than on most ships, pirate or otherwise I'd wager.'

Alice bit her lip as she looked him over; she wasn't at all happy about Lady Lily's plan, and had said so at some length, but the woman was immovable so all she could do was reduce the risk. Sirius Black seemed unusual for a pirate, with manners and education that seemed out of keeping with his profession; she'd be lying if she claimed her curiosity hadn't been piqued by this little conversation. Still, she'd seen a lot of pirates on her expeditions to the local inns and taverns over the last few evenings, and she wouldn't have considered sending her lady off with any of them. She prided herself on her instincts, and they were telling her that this man was her best bet.

She offered her hand and he shook it on a grin. 'We'll be leaving on the morning tide; can your lady be ready?'

Alice nodded, and he stood up and drained that last of his drink. 'Then I'll see you on the docks in the morning my lovely.'

He left the tavern immediately, and Alice was left alone at the table, wondering if she'd done the right thing.

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'Three _hundred _galleons James! Just to take a passenger to Spinner's End.'

Sirius sounded incredibly pleased with himself, and James had to admit that if what he was saying was accurate then it was intriguing to say the least. Three hundred galleons was a lot of money, and he found himself more than a little suspicious that such a sum could be earned for doing something so apparently simple. He tied off the rope he was holding and shouted up to the men in the riggings before turning back to face his second mate; he jerked his head to one side, and the two of them moved wordlessly across the deck until they reached a spot free of other crew members.

'What's the catch Sirius?'

'Why would there be a catch?' Sirius' face was a picture of innocence, and James rested his elbows on the ships rail and gave his oldest friend an exasperated look.

'Because nothing good_ ever_ falls straight into my lap, and whenever you tell me something is simple and easy, it invariably turns out to be difficult and fraught with danger.'

'I'm hurt James.' The grin never left Sirius' face as he joined his captain in leaning against the rail, the two of them staring out across the harbour while sailors rushed around them. 'This is as simple as I'm telling you; someone wants safe passage to Spinner's End and is willing to pay for it. They need passage on a _pirate ship_ because who else would take them there?'

'I hate Spinner's End.' James muttered sourly. 'I mean I bloody hate it Sirius, and I wouldn't even consider this if the money weren't so good.'

'But it _is_ good.'

'It's probably stolen.'

'Like that's ever bothered us before.' Sirius turned back to face the deck and caught the eye of a tall sandy haired man standing on the opposite side of the ship, watching the activities of the crew with folded arms and a stern eye. As soon as Sirius made eye-contact with him he moved swiftly across the deck and joined the two of them at the rail.

'I assume Sirius has filled you in Remus?' James' voice sounded tired, and the tall man nodded slowly, eyes flicking between the captain and second mate. 'He did.'

'And?'

Remus' eyebrows rose at the question. 'And you're the captain James. Decision is yours.'

James rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his thick dark hair in a habitual gesture of frustration as he turned around and lounged against the rail. 'I'm allowed to ask my first mate for an opinion.'

Remus thought for a moment. 'It's a lot of money, and to be honest, that makes me a little nervous. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pirate who wouldn't sail twice as far for a sum like that; why would someone pay so much for such a small thing? Unless there are greater complications at work.'

James turned his head towards Sirius. 'See? Remus agrees with me.'

'You two are far too conservative to be pirates.' Sirius scolded. 'Where's your sense of adventure?'

Remus fixed him with an icy glare. 'I left it in the last port, along with a chunk of skin from my shoulder, and a fair bit of blood thanks to your _last_ hare-brained scheme.'

Sirius contrived to look offended. 'It wasn't _that _bad. And this will be different anyway, what could possibly go wrong? It's just taking a passenger on board for a few weeks. And besides, I already told her we'd do it.'

James head snapped back in his direction. 'Her? _Her _Sirius?'

Sirius raised his hands defensively. 'Now, don't get all stroppy James. The fact that the passenger is a woman is irrelevant to everything but the price; that's why the money's so good. How many pirate ships would guarantee a woman's safety while she was on board?'

Remus looked flabbergasted. 'You have agreed to transport a _woman_ to Spinner's End, on board our ship? Our ship full of pirates?'

James growled low in his throat. 'Sirius, I am going to _kill you_! Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to maintain discipline with a woman on board?'

'We can handle this bunch of scallywags.' Sirius waved a confident hand. 'Think of the money.'

'Why does she want to go to Spinner's End Sirius?' Remus demanded.

'I've no idea, and I didn't see it was any of my business to ask.' Sirius was completely unfazed by the negative reactions of the other two. 'All she wants is to be dropped off; how could it matter to us what she's going to do once we leave her?'

James and Remus exchanged glances, and the dark-haired captain sighed. 'He has a point. Having her on board will be a pain in the arse, but if we're just dropping her off there shouldn't be any chance of us being drawn into whatever she's up to.'

He looked around the ship at his crew. They were loyal enough - as far as pirates could be - not to mention a little intimated by him which was all to the good, and he was fairly confident that between himself and his two mates they'd be able to maintain order; it would just be a bloody nuisance. On the other hand, it certainly wasn't _enough_ of a nuisance to make him turn down three hundred galleons. A thought struck him and he turned back to the others. 'Where are we going to_ put_ her? I mean, we can't chuck her in with the crew can we?'

Sirius gave a triumphant grin, recognising that if James was considering the details of the situation, that meant he was about to cave. Remus frowned, obviously realising the same thing, but he was clearly considerably less happy about it than Sirius was.

He sighed and folded his arms. 'She can have my cabin, and I'll bunk in with Sirius.'

Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by a withering glare from James. 'You got us into this Sirius, so don't even think about complaining. I am holding you personally responsible for this entire thing.'

'Does that mean I get a bigger cut of the money when it all goes perfectly?' he asked with a cocky grin, and James scowled at him and stomped off to take his temper out on the nearest unfortunate members of the crew.

Remus shook his head at the second mate. 'You'd better check those sails have all been properly stitched and repaired, because the mood he's in now, James will string you up from the yardarm if they're not ready when we are.'

Sirius saluted impertinently and headed off, leaving Remus to continue with his solitary supervision of the crew as they made the ship ready.

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'I'd just like to make it clear that I have serious misgivings about this.' Alice kept her hand on her cloaked companion's elbow and steered her through the dockside crowds, guiding her steps and glaring at any who got in her way.

'You've said. Many times.' The voice that came from under the hood of the cloak was light and feminine. 'Nonetheless, I'm going. This is my last chance.'

Without breaking stride, Alice changed direction and tugged her companion over to beneath the moorings of one of the larger ships, where the crowd was thinnest.

'My Lady.' She opened and closed her mouth once or twice before she could get her words out. 'I'm as sure as I can be that you'll be safe on this ship. The second mate…' She trailed off as she remembered the lean dark-haired man. Alice had always had good instincts about people, and she'd honed them in her years living on the streets; she didn't doubt his promise that her lady would be safe with him. 'There's just something about him, and I think he can be trusted; I think we have to assume that he's telling the truth about the captain and first mate being cut from similar cloth. I'm not really worried about the journey on the ship. I'm worried about Spinner's End. You don't have the faintest idea where to start, and if there's a port in the world that isn't safe for a lady like yourself, it's Spinner's End.'

'I have no other options left Alice.' Lily's voice was calm and collected, but there was a warmth to it that let Alice know her concern was truly appreciated. She reached out a hand to gently touch Alice's elbow before she spoke again. 'This is my last chance, and I have to try. I'd sooner try my luck in Spinner's End than submit to the alternative at this point.'

Alice lowered her head at the words; the hint of despair in them brought tears to her eyes, and she didn't want her lady to see them. She straightened up again and took Lily's elbow, guiding her along the dock until she saw the name she was looking for: The Fawkes.

'It's this one.'

Lily pushed her hood up just a little so she could see the ship that loomed alongside them without exposing her face to the crowd. 'It's a little larger than I expected.'

She turned to Alice and smiled. 'Thank you Alice. Above and beyond the call of duty as always.'

Alice tried to give her a smile in return, but the tears were leaking out now, and Lily reached a hand out to offer a handkerchief.

'You've been a friend to me when I've needed one Alice.' She took a step back from her. 'Remember what we discussed. Stay at the inn, pretend I'm confined with an illness. If you haven't heard from me within the month, or if someone comes looking for me, take the money I left in the room and disappear.' She reached out and touched Alice's hand gently. 'Live a good life with it Alice.'

Alice nodded, her back straight and her eyes wet as she said goodbye to the best friend she'd ever have. She caught sight of thick dark hair making its way down the gangplank and she quickly dabbed at her eyes and set her expression as neutrally as she could manage as Sirius Black approached them, accompanied by a sandy-blond man with a scar on his right cheek.

'Good morning ladies.' Sirius sounded just as cheerful as he had last night, and he smiled brightly at them both, though his eyes settled firmly on Lily. 'You'd be our passenger then?'

He held a hand out and Alice jumped into an introduction. 'Sirius Black, this is La…'

'Lilith Evans. Lily.' Lily interrupted, stepping forward and taking his hand. 'A pleasure to meet you Mr Black.'

'Sirius.' He corrected, eyes twinkling with unspoken curiosity. He indicated the tall man standing patiently at this shoulder. 'This is Remus Lupin, first mate.'

'Miss Evans.' Remus murmured politely as he shook her hand for the briefest second.

'We're about to cast off, so if you're ready Miss Lily, I'll leave you with Remus here; I need to go shout at some rather disreputable sailors.'

He headed off up the gangplank, whistling a jaunty tune as he went, leaving Remus, Lily and Alice standing on the dock. Lily turned back to Alice with a smile, and with tact neither of them expected to see in a pirate, Remus took a few steps away to allow them some privacy. Lily gave Alice one last hug, then took her leather satchel from her and stepped back towards Remus. Alice turned and slowly walked away, not looking back as she headed for the inn.

Lily allowed herself one tear as she watched her go, before she turned to face the first mate who gave her a kindly half-smile. He gestured for her to go first, and he followed her up the gangplank and gave the order to have it removed as they reached the top.

Lily heard the order to cast off shouted from the landing, and she looked up to catch the briefest glimpse of a dark-haired man she presumed to be the captain standing at the helm. Remus silently led her towards the rear of the ship and below decks, to a door which he pushed open for her; she stepped into a cramped room, and was relieved to see a proper bed. It may have been small, but it wasn't a hammock, and that was the only part of the trip she'd really been dreading. Otherwise it had a small chest, a little table with a jug and wash bowl and a small wooden chair.

'This is my cabin,' Remus spoke quietly from behind her. 'but it's yours while you're with us. I'm sharing with Sirius, and we're next door if you need anything.'

She turned to face him and pushed her hood back, revealing her face properly for the first time and suppressing a hint of relief when no flicker of recognition crossed his features; not that'd she'd particularly expected any, but it eased her worries to know that she wasn't known here. 'Thank you. It's very kind of you to give up your space for me.'

He smiled suddenly, and she was taken by surprised by how much younger and less world-weary he appeared when he smiled like that. 'You're welcome. I'll, ah, speak to the cook about having your meals brought to you in here; you don't want to witness pirate eating habits in the galley I'm sure.'

He made to step out of the door, but was stopped by a gentle hand on his forearm. 'Mr Lupin?'

'Remus.' He said quietly, and she gave him a small smile that just hinted at dimples in her cheeks before she asked her question nervously. 'Am I confined to these quarters?'

'No.' He appeared surprised by the question. 'No, not at all. You can come and go as you please, though I would recommend staying away from the galley and the men's sleeping quarters in the forecastle. If you'd like to look around, Sirius or myself can accompany you, duties allowing, if you're nervous about moving about the ship on your own.'

He studied her face for a moment then spoke again, his tone firm but kind. 'None of the crew will bother you; the Captain was very clear on that, and while the majority of the crew can't be fully trusted, believe me when I say that none of them are stupid enough to cross him. He'll see to it that his orders are obeyed.'

He stepped back through the door and pulled it gently shut behind him, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts.

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It had been half an hour since they left port, and James had relinquished the wheel to one of the crew. He stood at the stern, watching the land grow smaller and smaller on the horizon; it may have been a series of odd and unfortunate circumstances that had led to him becoming a pirate captain, but one thing he'd never regretted was choosing to spend his life on the sea.

It could be rough, it could be dangerous, and it was almost always a struggle, but it was visceral and life-affirming, and at times so very peaceful.

'Galleon for your thoughts?' Remus stepped up beside him and joined him in staring out across the waves.

James felt his lips twitch slightly. 'Feeling rich are we?' He stepped forward and let his hands sit on the bow rail, feeling the movement of his ship beneath his hands. 'I doubt I've ever had a thought that would be worth a galleon.'

Remus tucked his hands in the belt loops of his breeches and rocked on his heels. 'Want to hear mine?'

James turned his head away from the sea and eyed his friend curiously. 'If you care to share them Remus.'

'The girl – Lilith Evans _apparently_…'

'You don't believe her?' James interrupted, his eyes boring into Remus who shook his head.

'No, I don't.' He stepped forward and joined James at the rail, lowering his voice so there was no possibility of being overheard. 'She's nobility, I'm certain of it.'

James looked at him sharply. 'You're sure? I know the sum is a lot of money, but she could have stolen it; or she could be a merchant's daughter or something, someone wealthy but not necessarily _noble_.'

Remus shook his head adamantly. 'Go see for yourself. The way she carries herself, her speech, everything about her says she's a gentlewoman.'

'Oh hells. What has Sirius gotten us into?' James scowled and kicked at the rail. 'I do _not _need to be pursued across the ocean by bloody soldiers because they think we've kidnapped a noblewoman.'

'She's here of her own accord.' Remus reminded him.

'**I** know that Remus, but what do you want to bet she doesn't have permission from her husband or father or whoever to be here? Different rules apply to the nobility, you know that.'

Remus leant on the rail alongside him. 'I know it's inconvenient, but it's not like we haven't been pursued before James.'

'Being chased by a ragged bunch of pirates or having a navy ship nip at your heels is not the same as being the focus of a damned manhunt.' James turned on his heel and began to march towards the door that would take him below decks to the officers' quarters. 'Go and tell Sirius to plot another course to Spinner's End.'

'What?' Remus was taken aback by the order, and James turned to face him, arms waving as he spoke.

'Take us on a less well-travelled route, where we won't encounter so many prying eyes.'

'It'll be a more dangerous route then.' Said Remus speculatively, his eyes on his irate captain.

'I'd rather take my bloody chances with the sea than with sodding soldiers!' He tossed over his shoulder as he resumed his march across the deck. Sailors recognised his black temper and moved instinctively out of his way as he walked, shoulders set and face stern. It took only moments for him to reach the door to Remus' cabin, but once there he found himself hesitating.

After a moment's deliberation, he knocked sharply. 'Just a minute!' a soft voice called from inside and James found himself annoyed at being made to wait outside a door on his _own bloody ship_. He was debating whether to just barge on in when the voice spoke again. 'It's not locked.'

He pushed the door open and entered Remus' small cabin, getting his first glimpse at the girl who claimed to be called Lilith Evans as she threw a dress across the narrow bed and turned to face him. For a second he almost forgot why he was there.

She was no commoner, that was for sure; it was obvious to him at first glance and he wondered how anyone could ever mistake her for one. Pale soft skin that had obviously never spent all day out working in the sun, and hands that were smooth and showed no signs of work. Her long red hair was neatly pulled back in a braid, and her green eyes shone from a pretty face that was devoid of blemishes. And Remus was right, she carried herself with a certain elegance and grace that was trained into the upper classes from birth. Not even the britches and loose shirt she had apparently been changing into could hide that. She gave him a polite smile, obviously confused as to who he was and why he was there. Mentally shaking himself, he stepped a little further into the room and closed the door behind him. He noted that her eyes were watching him carefully, could see the urge to take a step backwards in them, but she remained rooted in place, refusing to give ground. Good. She had the sense to be wary, and the spine to stand her ground; good combination to have when you were on board a pirate ship.

He spoke quietly, more from not wanting to be overheard than for any other reason. 'James Potter. _Captain _James Potter. And you, I hear, are Lilith Evans.'

Her face suddenly blossomed into a wide smile. 'Captain.' She extended a hand to him, and he was so startled that he took it but didn't shake it, and she held on to his as she continued talking. 'I'd like to thank you for taking me. I hope it's not too far out of your way?'

He pulled his hand away and folded his arms as he looked at her curiously. Remus had been exactly right, as usual; she was obviously intelligent, and while that wasn't a trait limited to the nobility, the level of education she appeared to have received certainly _was_. Realising she was waiting for a response, he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

'You're paying me Miss Evans, I'm not doing you a favour. And it doesn't matter if the port is out of our way or not; you're paying us to take you there, so we'll take you there. What I would like to know is what you're planning on _doing_ when you get there?'

She drew in a sharp breath and straightened up a little. It might have intimidated him more if he hadn't been almost a foot taller than her; as it was, it did little more than amuse him, as did her icy tone.

'As you said Captain Potter, I'm paying you to take me there, not to ask questions about my business.'

He inclined his head to her. 'All well and good Miss Evans, but I do believe I have a right to know if you are hiding something that will endanger my ship and my crew.'

She scoffed at him, and he was impressed by the amount of contempt she could pack into a single facial expression. 'I fail to see how my plans once I disembark your ship could possibly affect you Captain.'

He stared back at her, his expression blank. 'Fine, why don't we start with something else then. Like your real name.'

She started; it was only a small jerk of the shoulders for a fraction of a second, but he'd been looking for it and he'd seen it. Pressing the advantage he took a step towards her, and this time she did step away from him. 'You see Miss Evans, if I take you to Spinner's End, and you cause all kinds of trouble, well, then someone is bound to ask who brought you there. And then they might decide it's worth their while to chase me down. Or if you're running there to hide – and it's a_ good_ place to hide from things – then whoever you're running _from_ might decide to take an interest in me as well. And that may or may not bother me, depending on who's doing the chasing, but I like to make informed decisions, so I'll have the truth from you now.'

She stared defiantly back at him, her face now set in hard lines that belied the soft smiles of earlier. 'Captain Potter. My name is Lily Evans, and I am paying you a handsome sum of money to take me to Spinner's End. If you wanted more information than that, then you should have asked for it beforehand, because I have no intention of discussing this any further.'

'Did you steal the money?' he asked, his hazel eyes boring into hers as he studied her. Her features morphed into an expression of genuine outrage; that theory was out then, unless she was a truly superb actress.

'How dare you?!' Her voice rose. 'I have done no such thing.'

'Running away from your husband?' His lip curled as he voiced the idea, finding it entirely appalling for some reason.

'No! I am not married, and your questions are impertinent.' She glowered at him, eyes flashing with indignation, and if he hadn't been so irate himself he might have taken a moment to appreciate the healthy glow the anger brought to her skin.

He gave her a crooked smile that didn't reach his eyes. 'I'm a _pirate_ Miss Evans. You should be thankful that _impertinent_ is the worst you'll get on this ship.'

Her chin rose defiantly as she stared back at him, and this time he _did_ feel a flicker of admiration for her spirit. He stepped towards her until he was so close he could smell the scent of rosewater coming off her hair.

'You are hiding something from us _Miss Lily Evans_. Rest assured that if harm comes to my ship or my crew because of it, I may not feel honour bound to abide by the terms of our agreement.'

She refused to cringe under his cold glare, choosing instead to meet his steely gaze with eyes that were hard as flint. 'Then I suppose it is a good thing that I am completely confident that no harm will befall your precious ship because of me, _Captain Potter_.'

James stepped away from her, holding her gaze until he reached the door. He left the room, being sure to slam the door behind him and made his way back to the deck, considering all the possible ways in which he could murder Sirius.

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**That's all folks. Let me know what you think, and check out JilyPirateFest over on Tumblr; I'm scared-of-clouds over there if anyone is interested.  
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	2. Storm Clouds Are Gathering

**A/N: You're all awesome. Have another chapter.**

**I should reiterate again that I know very little about sailing, and have done pretty much no research, so I'm sure parts of this chapter are totally inaccurate. But that's why it's fiction right? We all have to live with my creative leaps.**

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Lily had definitely run out of ways to properly express her annoyance without actually leaving her cabin, and since leaving her cabin held the distinct possibility of seeing the captain again, she had no intention of doing _that_.

She'd stamped her feet, paced around the room, emptied her satchel onto the bed and thrown her belongings around a bit, pounded her fists on her pillow, and had finally resorted to kicking the hull of the ship quite firmly. She regretted that one now; her toe felt distinctly painful, and was probably turning a beautiful shade of purple right at that very moment.

And it was all his fault. If there was one thing she was clear on, it was that her bad mood was entirely the fault of James Potter. The miserable wretch.

And that argument with him and her subsequent bad mood was what had led to her current position, sprawled across the narrow bed that was presently littered with a random assortment of garments, her hands over her face as she pondered the idea of weeks at sea with the insufferable man.

There was a gentle tap on the door, and Lily gave some serious consideration to ignoring it completely in case it was Captain Pratface, even though such an unobtrusive knock seemed out of keeping with his character. Then again, if it _was_ Captain Potter there was every chance he would simply stroll in without invitation if she failed to acknowledge him. Sighing, she stood up and straightened her clothes out before she opened the door.

Sirius was standing outside holding a tray of food, and smiling faintly. 'Hungry?'

'No, not really.' She answered dully, holding open the door for him to enter. He dropped the tray onto the little table and turned to smile at her.

'Having trouble with your sea legs?'

'No. No, I've always been fine in that respect.' Lily answered. 'Just feeling a little listless I suppose.'

'Hmm.' Sirius eyed her speculatively. 'I hear you met the captain.'

'Yes, that was a pleasure.' Muttered Lily sourly. It had only been about two hours since she'd spoken - if that was the term – to the captain.

Sirius hesitated for a moment, her face creasing into a frown. 'He didn't frighten you did he?'

He sounded curious, and Lily felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion. 'No. Why would he have frightened me? Did he intend to?'

His lips twitched. 'I doubt it. He may be a pirate, but he's not that much of a brute. Even so, every pirate on this ship walks a little bit in fear of the captain; a little in awe as well, but they've undoubtedly learned to avoid him when his mood is bad anyway.' His expression turned questioning, and the smallest hint of admiration bloomed in his eyes. 'And yet according to him, you stood toe to toe with him and refused to back down.'

'Conceding isn't really in my nature.' Lily answered, distractedly running a finger over the lump of bread on her dinner tray.

'No, nor his.' Replied Sirius absently, his eyes still fixed firmly on her. 'That ought to make for an interesting time anyway.'

He watched her closely for a moment longer, then gave her a dazzling smile. 'I'll leave you to eat. You should try and have something even if you don't feel like it; your stomach will take to the motion of the ship much easier if it has something in it.'

'Thank you. It's kind of you to think of such things.' Lily nodded at him, more grateful than she could properly express for such a small gesture of concern for her welfare; it had been several months since anyone but Alice had offered any such concern.

He smiled at her again, a gentle smile this time that seemed somehow more real than the heart-stopping grins he'd given her till now, and for some reason that just made her heart ache a little more. How long had it been since someone had smiled at her like that?

'You're welcome Miss Evans. If you like I could come back in an hour or so and take you on a tour of the ship? Get you some fresh air.'

'Lily.' That one word was all she felt capable of for just a moment, her emotions suddenly rubbed too raw to allow for what she would consider _good _communication.

He raised an eyebrow. 'I'm sorry?'

'Please call me Lily. Everyone does. And…I would like to see the ship, if you're sure you have the time to spare for me.' She didn't make eye contact with him as she spoke, preferring to stare at her food so he couldn't possibly see the tears that were beginning to prickle at the back of her eyes.

'I believe I can always spare time for a pretty lady.' She heard the hint of humour creep into his tone and smiled to herself, knowing that he was mocking himself and not her, and feeling a further rush of affection for him. Alice had trusted this man instinctively, and while Lily was never one to underestimate Alice's abilities to read people, she hadn't until this moment fully understood why. There was something about Sirius Black, a sort of warmth that made you feel better, a sense that he understood more than he ever let you realise but nonetheless wouldn't use it against you.

Feeling the urge to cry subside a little she turned to face him and spoke softly, the corners of her mouth twitching as she suppressed the faintest of grins. 'And this lady believes she would enjoy the company of a handsome man on her tour of the ship. So make sure you bring Remus.'

Sirius looked affronted for about two seconds before he roared with laughter. 'I like you. I like you very much Lily Evans.'

He stepped towards the door, still laughing and opened it. He turned back to face her before he stepped out, and flashed her a cheeky wink.

'See you shortly then.' And with that he was gone, leaving Lily alone with her lunch and her thoughts. She could have done without the latter.

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Sirius strolled back towards the main deck from the officers' quarters, whistling cheerily as he went. He nodding approvingly as he passed two crewmen swabbing the decks; he wasn't the greatest fan of hard work himself, but he did appreciate it in other people.

He made his way over to Remus who was leaning against the main-mast while he kept a sharp eye on the activities of the crew. Sirius felt, as he always did at this sort of moment, a sense of thankfulness for his old friend; without Remus the ship would have fallen apart a long time ago. James may have been the leader, the inspiration and the disciplinarian, but Remus was the practical one, the one who saw the details.

He thanked his stars that James had never really entertained the idea of making him first mate; he was utterly certain that he'd have run the ship aground on a reef in the first month. Give him a supporting role, one where he just had to make sure orders were carried out rather than give them himself.

'Meal delivered and accepted, and I would say she's in decent spirits for a girl who's had a run-in with a cantankerous James Potter.'

'And?' Remus arched a brow impatiently.

'Oh, she's a noblewoman alright. No denying it. Everything about her screams it. She might as well be wearing a sign that says "lady of quality".' Sirius answered cheerfully. 'To be fair, I could have told you the second we met her on the dockside that she was no ordinary common girl. What I don't understand is why you and James are getting yourselves so worked up about it. It doesn't change anything: we take her to Spinner's End, we drop her off. Then we sail off into the sunset with three hundred galleons and live happily ever after. Well, for about a fortnight anyway, until the money runs out.'

'I sincerely hope that it would last a little longer than that Sirius.' Remus tried his best to sound stern, but he couldn't quite hide the hint of amusement; sometimes Sirius' irrepressibility was very much needed on board the ship, since both he and James were prone to bad humours.

'Depends on who you put in charge of it.' Sirius dismissed his words with a wave of his hand. 'Anyway, I'm going to give Lily time to eat then I said I'd take her on a tour of the ship. You can join us if you like, but I get the impression James' presence would be very unwelcome. I think we can safely say they got off on the wrong foot.'

'That may be an understatement.' Remus turned his head sharply as something caught his eye. 'You better not be slacking over there Amos! Captain's in a bad mood you know, and he doesn't appreciate a leaky ship!'

The unfortunate sailor began diligently applying liberal amounts of tar to the hull, and Sirius grinned at Remus. 'Are they that scared of James at the moment?'

Remus gave him an incredulous look. 'Have you seen his face since his little altercation with our passenger? Half the crew think he'll maroon them without a second thought if they look at him funny.'

Sirius shrugged. 'I'll be sure to introduce Lily around; that ought to put a smile on their faces.'

Remus gave him a sharp look. 'You better watch out for her Sirius, or James will have _your_ head. And I'll help.'

Sirius just grinned at him and headed off to gather up two men to help him check the ship's speed with the log line.

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Lily could admit now that she'd been apprehensive about travelling on a pirate ship; she'd been adamant with Alice that she would be fine, but there had always been a voice in her mind telling her that these were _pirates_, and by definition they were not able to be trusted.

She felt the majority of the nerves spill away though, as Sirius calmly escorted her around the ship, pausing to introduce her to members of the crew when their duties allowed for it. Not one man said something rude to her, though the way one or two of them looked at her made her a little apprehensive; still, one sharp word from Sirius would send them scurrying on their way, and then they would be moving on to the next thing.

It had been some time since she'd been on a ship; she'd loved the ocean as a child but hadn't had much opportunity to travel as she'd grown older. She'd missed it though, the feeling of flying across the ocean as the spray kicked up and made the air taste of salt and the wind filled the sails so they snapped and billowed.

It was fascinating really, to see how it all worked. She'd been on board many ships, but no-one had ever given any consideration to actually letting her see how things were done, or heaven forbid, allow her to actually try and do anything herself.

Sirius, it seemed, had no such qualms. He waited patiently while she asked Will endless questions about the various riggings and sails, watched with amusement as Alec and Jack fell over themselves to demonstrate how they measured the speed the ship was travelling at and took her up to the helm to show her the various navigational tools they used, even allowing her to handle them. She didn't understand all of it, but it was wonderful for once to have people explain things to her without any concern over whether it was appropriate, without telling her there was no use in her knowing. So what if there was no use in her knowing? She still wanted to _know._

She wandered the ship with Sirius for the best part of an hour, peeking into various rooms and laughing at his stories, talking to the crew and generally doing all kinds of things that were completely unsuitable for a lady.

She felt…lighter somehow, more herself than she had done for weeks and weeks, maybe even months. There was something incredibly freeing about soaring across the open sea with the wind at your back, feeling as if you were flying away from your problems, as if they could never catch you. She understood how intoxicating that was, understood why men spent their lives on the ocean.

When Sirius left her with an apology about needing to go and check the watch and complete the log, she didn't return to her cabin but stood at the rail instead and watched the horizon, staring out at a restless sea without really seeing anything.

'Haven't you finished distracting my crew yet?'

The intrusion into her reverie might have been unwelcome anyway, but it was doubly so when it was _him_. She turned to face Captain Potter standing behind her, his arms folded and his face carefully neutral, mop of hair being blown in greater disarray by the wind.

'I'm not doing anything.' The moment the words were out of her mouth she regretted them; they felt juvenile somehow, a child's complaint about being unfairly blamed.

'You exist.' He replied simply, and stepped forward to join her at the rail, bracing his forearms on the wooden beam and staring off into the distance just as she had. 'That's enough to distract most of them. You're a rather unusual thing. Pirates_ like_ unusual things, especially when they're pretty; we're known for hoarding them.'

'I'm sure you'll manage to refocus their minds admirably.' She answered, her eyes resting on her white knuckles where she was grasping the rail. They flicked sideways when he moved restlessly, and she noted the clean, tanned skin of his forearms. No tattoos at all, not on either arm. Unless he had some on his biceps, which were still hidden by his rolled-up sleeves.

Snorting slightly at her own ridiculous train of thought – what did it matter if he was tattooed or not after all? - she raised her eyes back to the horizon. He cleared his throat. 'Try not to wander too much by yourself. I have a good grip on my crew, but even **_I _**can't completely guarantee your safety if you decide to start strolling around the ship on your own, especially at night.'

'I can take care of myself.' She answered shortly, and she felt a wave of irritation wash through her when he laughed bitterly before speaking again in low, irritated tones.

'Let me be rightly understood, _Miss Evans_. I don't know who you really are, or what you're really up to, but I can_ guarantee_ that whatever trouble you are currently in will be _nothing_ compared to the nasty situations you could find yourself in on a ship full of cutthroats. You think you can handle yourself; well, you might want to re-think the cocky self-confidence and focus on the benefits of constructive cowardice.'

Lily scowled. 'That's rich coming from you: "cocky self-confidence". Then again, maybe _arrogance _would be a better word to describe your unshakeable belief in your own superiority.'

'Well, you've pegged my character _very_ quickly for someone who's had one conversation with me, a conversation, I should like to point out, in which you consistently and continuously lied to me.' James growled at her.

'I was not lying.' Lily's chin rose defiantly and James laughed harshly at her obviously tense posture.

'Sorry sweetheart, but I'm rather good at knowing when someone is lying to me. Survival trait you see. So you may not be willing to tell me the actual truth, but don't insult my intelligence by keeping up this charade.'

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but found herself lost for words when James leaned in closer to her, his eyes dark and piercing. 'And don't for one _second_ imagine that I won't force your little secrets out of you if I think I really need to.'

He stepped back away from her, and for just a second she saw him as his crew did, saw the pirate captain, ill-tempered and deadly. He span on his heel and marched away, crew members suddenly speeding up in their work as the stomp of his boots approached their stations.

Lily drew in a long shuddering breath, acutely aware of the swirl of nerves that had resumed low in her belly. She didn't want to retreat, didn't want him to think she was backing down, but at the same time she needed to sit down, preferably out of sight of everyone else, so she turned and headed slowly towards her cabin, stopping to talk to at least two crewmembers out of sheer contrariness and spite; she just hoped he saw.

She needn't have worried. He watched her every step.

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'I thought sailors navigated by the stars, but Sirius showed me all those different instruments you use, and now I have absolutely no idea how you keep us on course. He did try and explain, but I think I may have exasperated him with my sheer lack of ability to understand him.' Lily sounded mildly embarrassed, and Remus couldn't help but find that a little endearing. There was no earthly reason why anyone would expect her to know anything about seamanship or any of its aspects, yet she seemed almost embarrassed to confess to a lack of understanding.

'Well, Sirius is very smart - though he doesn't really think so himself - so these things all came rather easily to him actually; he can't always understand that not everyone can just instinctively grasp things like he does. Combine that with an epic lack of patience and a certain amount of restlessness, and I'm afraid he makes for a poor teacher.' Remus finished scribbling in the log and gave Lily his full attention. 'And we _do_ navigate by the stars, but you can only see them in a clear sky, and there are a lot of other methods we use depending on the circumstances; I can try and explain if you like.'

James would probably yell his ear off about it, but Remus privately thought that James was exaggerating when he complained about the amount of time the crew had spent answering Lily's questions in the three days since she'd been on board. The girl was _curious_ for heaven's sake, it wasn't a crime. Remus actually found it both refreshing and rather charming that she was so inclined to learn things. And for someone as inherently nosy as_ James _to complain about someone else's habit of poking their nose into everything, well that was just a level of hypocrisy that beggared belief.

Lily blushed. 'Oh, I didn't mean to imply that…well, I didn't mean to suggest that I wanted you to do that. Or that Sirius wasn't incredibly kind to try and explain to me because he really was…'

He smiled at her as she rambled on, finding it oddly sweet that she was apparently worried about injuring the feelings and sensibilities of a pair of pirates. Something about this girl tugged at him, damned if he knew what it was. Maybe it was the shadows of sadness that haunted her face when she thought no-one was watching her, or maybe it was that odd sense of innocence she had about her. Either way, he had time for her, and James could bloody well lump it.

'It's no problem.' He interrupted her. 'It's probably hard to understand when you aren't actually _seeing _how they're used; Sirius and I do the navigation, so when we take our bearings, you can watch and actually see how it all works. That ought to make a bit more sense.'

'That would be very kind of you both, but won't the captain object to you wasting your time?'

Her tone turned acerbic on the word "captain", and Remus held back a frown as he wondered if she'd overheard something like that or if James had outright told her she was being a bloody nuisance. He wouldn't normally think James capable of such unprovoked and unnecessary rudeness, but his reactions to things concerning Lily seemed both unpredictable and extreme. He leaned in closer to her and spoke in an exaggerated whisper.

'Can I tell you a secret Lily?'

She quirked her eyebrows at him, obviously amused by his faux-secretive tone, which had been his exact intention.

'James is an utter, utter fraud. Oh, he's a complete brute when he needs to be, and he puts on a wonderful façade of nastiness most of the time, but deep down; totally soft-hearted. Ridiculously loyal, overly concerned with the welfare of those he cares for and just chivalrous enough to be annoying at times. You just have to dig past the "Pirate Captain" persona, and through the layers of cockiness and self-importance to find the soft heart.'

Lily looked at him incredulously. 'I have seen absolutely no evidence of a "soft heart". I'm not entirely certain he _has _a heart.'

Remus burst out laughing. 'You might change your mind if you'd heard some of the dire threats he issued to the crew about what would happen to anyone who offered you any impertinence. Perhaps he likes to save the pleasure of infuriating you purely for himself.'

Lily folded her arms crossly. 'Well he's done nothing to make me think he's anything more than an unremitting bully, to me _and_ towards the crew.'

'Lily, I know you and James have gotten off on the wrong foot, and I'm not going to comment on your personal feelings towards him; they're your feelings. But you think he bullies the crew? That's completely unfair. Look at it like this; if _you_ were James, and _you_ were responsible for the lives of every person on board this ship, wouldn't you want to make sure everyone was working as hard as they could, that everyone was doing everything they were supposed to, because every mishap might be the last one? Wouldn't you be tough on them, knowing that we all depend on each other for survival?'

He let that sink in for a moment, then spoke again, more softly this time. 'I'm not saying that you have to be best friends with him, I'm not saying that you even need to speak to him. Just, for me, try and see his side of things a little. And for what it's worth, I've had much the same conversation with him as well.'

It took a moment, but then her face bloomed into a small smile and he returned it, but before she could reply to him her smile slid off her face, replaced by an expressionless mask, and Remus registered James' arrival behind him. He turned his body to face the captain, who dispensed entirely with greetings or preamble.

'Trouble. Take a look at the weather.'

Remus saw Lily look about, obviously confused by James' words. However much affection she seemed to have for the sea, she was a landsman – well, woman obviously –and she was oblivious to what James had noticed, an ominous change in the weather and sea that only an experienced sailor would pick up on.

The sky had darkened as they'd been sitting there, banks of dark cloud building up overhead and the waves had begun to slap more roughly against the edge of the ship. The ship moved uneasily, the sails hanging limp and useless one minute, and then billowing the next.

'Oh hells and double hells.' Hissed Remus. 'I was afraid of this.'

James nodded his acknowledgment, his face set and grim. 'I don't want to drop anchor unless we have to. We've a fair bit of sea room, with luck we should be able to run ahead of it.'

'Maybe.' Remus muttered, his eyes still flicking over the ship, watching the movements of the crew as they rushed to stow everything as quickly as possible. 'There's a reason people avoid this area of sea.'

'Well, let's not become another nasty story.' James' voice rose to a shout as the wind rose and began to scream as the incoming storm bore down on them. 'Let's lose some sail and get running!'

Remus nodded and raised his own voice. 'Where's Sirius?'

James pointed up with two fingers, and Remus looked up at the mainmast to see Sirius climbing the rigging with an ease and grace he knew he'd never have when it came to heights like that, three or four other men following up on his heels.

He made eye contact with James, who gave a barely perceptible flick of his head in Lily's direction. Remus made no motion to show that he'd seen and understood, but he didn't have to; they both knew that the message had been relayed.

Remus reached for Lily's arm and pulled her along after him as he hastily crossed the deck. 'Come on, you need to get below!'

The words had barely left his mouth when an enormous wave crashed over the ship and hit them both, washing them into the rail and leaving them gasping as they grasped the wooden beam. Remus pulled Lily a little closer to him and his eyes darted quickly across the deck, finding James who was hanging onto a rope near the forecastle, then up to Sirius who was still aloft and directing his men in reefing the main sail.

The rain began to pour down in earnest, soaking them both even more than the wave had. He pulled Lily tighter into him, using his weight to keep them both a little steadier as the ship began to rock on increasingly violent waves and he held the rail as they slowly made their way to the door that led to officers' quarters.

'Where did this come from?' Lily yelled. 'The sea was calm not half an hour ago!'

'This area is known for sudden short-lived storms, that's one of the reasons it's a lesser used route! Not many ships brave this stretch of sea, the weather is too unpredictable!' Remus shouted as he pulled them along the deck until they reached the door, trying his best to shield her from the worst of the weather.

They reached the door and Remus pushed Lily in. 'Do not come out until one of us comes to get you Lily, I mean it! This storm is deadly.'

He saw her nod very briefly, her face pale as she disappeared below decks, and Remus turned and scanned the decks, spotting James and heading towards him.

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James barely stopped to acknowledge Remus' arrival. 'Will, get below and make sure the galley fire is out, the last thing I bloody need right now is a fire. Amos, Jack, we need to be ready to batten down the hatches at a moment's notice, so get to it!'

'Aye aye captain.' The three men scrambled away, fighting against the howling wind and hunching over in an attempt to avoid the worst of the driving rain. James turned to his first mate and opened his mouth, but before he could speak there was a ferocious noise from somewhere in the belly of the ship, the sound of splintering wood.

'Walters, Cook!' Remus screamed before James could react. 'Get below and secure the guns, they're breaking loose!'

The answering shout of the two men was lost as another wave barrelled into the ship and an enormous wall of water rolled almost lazily across the deck towards them, soaking them to the bone as they clutched onto ropes and held on grimly. No sooner had they spluttered their way through that wave than the ship seemed to almost spin as yet another torrent of water crashed onto the deck. Broken ropes whipped through the air and James eyes were drawn up to where his best friend was clinging to the rigging as the men he'd taken up with him lay flat along the yardarm as they fought to get the sail safely furled.

'I'm going up!' shouted James, reaching out for the rigging but Remus pulled him back with a sharp jerk.

'We need you at the helm. I'll go.'

'Remus!' James shouted uselessly into the storm as Remus began climbing the rigging, much more uncomfortably than Sirius had but with no less determination. 'You hate heights you moron!'

Remus gave no indication that he had heard, and simply continued to climb. 'Curse you both to blazes you bloody pricks, making me worry and then sticking me with the bloody helm.' He muttered continually under his breath about the inconsiderate nature of his friends as he made his way towards the helm, fighting against the weather and the occasional wave that poured over him and drenched him still further.

He replaced Alec at the wheel, much to the relief of the younger man, and sent him below to help stow anything that would damage the ship if it was left to roll around loose in this kind of storm. The wheel jerked against his hands, and his biceps strained against the sheer force of the water trying to drive his ship around in circles as he fought to hold her steady.

The ship was listing horribly, the rain carried on pouring down and combined with the spray to make it almost impossible to see anything, and she kept bucking over the thrashing waves that crashed over the side and roared across the deck. There was incredibly loud groaning and creaking as the ship fought against the ocean, and the sound of sails and ropes snapping in the wind mixed with the roaring and booming of waves to almost deafen him.

He chanced a glance upwards at the mast, and his heart rose into his throat as he saw the white of the sail spread as it broke loose from the men trying to reef it and unrolled, filling with wind and driving the ship along faster. The ship began to fight his control of the wheel even more and it was all he could do to stop the wheel from just spinning freely between his hands. He caught sight of the outline of a man making his way across the deck and screwed his eyes up against the driving storm as he tried to make him out.

'Who's that?'

'It's Stevenson Captain.' James closed his eyes for a second and offered a silent prayer to whatever god might be interested in the fate of a pirate; Stevenson was the biggest man on the ship.

'Get here and take this wheel Stevenson!'

The hulking shadow became a large man, fighting his way through wave after wave towards James. 'I'm no helmsman captain…'

'I know, I know!' yelled James impatiently. 'The best bloody helmsman in the world couldn't do anything in this damn storm; just come and take the wheel! I need to get over there!' He nodded towards the mainmast, afraid to take a hand from the wheel. 'We're carrying full sail! Either the mainmast will break or we'll be driven under!'

The reassuring bulk of Stevenson settled beside him, and two large hands landed on the wheel. James relinquished his grip and began to make his way towards the mast, shouting instructions over his shoulder as he passed various crewmen.

As soon as he was close enough, he jumped for the rigging and began to climb, ignoring the screaming pain in his muscles that told him he'd abused them rather badly today.

He caught sight of Sirius first, his dark hair plastered to the sides of his face and his teeth clenched as he lay stretched along the yardarm, clutching frantically at the loose sail.

'Sirius!' His second mate's head jerked up, and the second they made eye contact James made sawing motions with one hand. Sirius shook his head, obviously not able to understand him and began to crawl along the yardarm towards him.

'The men can't furl sail in this wind James! It's about all we can do to hang on!' He yelled the minute he got within earshot.

'I know!' James yelled back. 'Tell them to cut it, cut the sail away!'

Sirius looked a little shocked. 'But it's a new sail.'

'It's cut the sail away or chop the damn mast down, because if we can't lose sail now this storm is going to drive us out of control, and we haven't got _that_ much sea room. Cut it, cut it now!'

Sirius twisted back around and began to wriggle back across the yardarm, shouting the order as he went; James kept his left hand firmly on the rigging as he drew his sword in his right and slashed at the ropes that secured the sail.

A few moments later the wind caught the loose sheet and the sail fluttered off into the storm; the ship lurched as it lost some speed immediately, and then she instantly began to run a little smoother across the waves. The men in the riggings made their way down to the deck, knowing there was nothing more they could do now but hang on as the ship tried to run ahead of the storm further out to sea.

James made his way back to the helm, taking the wheel from Stevenson and sending the man off; it felt lighter under his fingers already, more responsive. The wind was still pushing them but the ship should ride it out now, as the storm seemed to have mostly blown itself out; they just had to stay as far out in deep water as possible until the wind died down.

James was proved right half an hour later, when the Fawkes was once again sitting on a calm ocean, the crew swarming all over it as they checked lines, patched holes and re-hung sails. He'd ceded the wheel to Alec and was sitting on the steps of the forecastle when Sirius and Remus joined him.

'Days like these that make you glad you chose this life right?' Sirius said with a grin.

'Oh absolutely.' Said James dryly. 'I'm cold, I'm soaked, I'm tired, I'm bloody _starving_ and my ship looks like it just went ten rounds with the champ.'

'Just another day at sea.' Said Remus calmly. 'You ought to get changed, I think you're wetter than any of the rest of us.'

'Hmph.' James rose grumpily to his feet and turned to his cabin, making sure his back was to his two friends before he spoke. 'One of you go and check on Miss Evans would you; she's probably terrified.'

'That almost sounded like concern James.' Remus was smiling, James could hear it in his voice.

'I just don't want her to die before she pays me my three hundred galleons.' He slammed the door of his cabin behind him, shutting them and their judgement out.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading, review if you can, and if you don't want to bother I'll still love you anyway. I'm so sleep-deprived it isn't even funny anymore. **


	3. Secrets Can Be Hard To Keep

**A/N: It's late, I'm tired, this is a chapter, I'm going to bed. There's a proper author's note at the end that was written when I was more coherent. Ignore it if you want. Love you. Especially the reviewers. Extra cookies for you. **

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It had only been eight days since they left the port of King's Cross, and by Sirius and Remus' joint estimation, Lily and James had had thirteen rows. Thirteen rows that at least one of them had witnessed or heard about anyway; there could well have been more. It seemed no attempt at intervention by either one of them could get the two of them to be nice to each other for an extended period of time; they managed to have civilised words _between_ the rows, but it was never long until one of their tempers boiled over. The pair were currently loudly disputing the accuracy of James' map, and the sound of the argument carried quite clearly across the deck to the two mates standing on the forecastle.

'I'm telling you, we can't get there any quicker! If you know a way to make the wind blow a bit harder I'm all ears, but if not, I'm afraid we'll have to keep doing it the old-fashioned way!'

'Spinner's End is only supposed to be three weeks sail from King's Cross, and you're telling me it's going to take closer to four! I'm telling you, your map is wrong!'

'First of all, that storm cost us a good couple of days because of all the repairs we had to make, and secondly, Spinner's End_ is_ three weeks sail from King's Cross; on a direct course - which we're avoiding - and with following winds! I'm a bloody good sailor, but even I can't make the wind and the sea co-operate with your mad plans!'

'Don't you curse at me James Potter!'

'That's Captain!'

Remus shook his head as they observed the spectacle. 'Never seen anything like it.'

Sirius laughed at the sight of James' reddening face. 'I like her. I think we should keep her.'

Remus glanced sideways at him. 'I think James would make you walk the plank if you so much as suggested it.'

'We don't have a plank.' Sirius sounded unconcerned.

'He'd find something.' Remus kept his gaze fixed on the two of them as James waved his rolled up map in the air and Lily stood with her hands on her hips, her upper body leaning towards him. 'I don't understand why they have to provoke each other; it's a big ship, they could just avoid each other.'

'Ah, I reckon they enjoy it really.' Sirius waved a vague hand. 'Think of it as them letting off steam.'

'Well, I wish they'd find a new way of relaxing, preferably one that doesn't wind the rest of us up.' Remus folded his arms anxiously as he watched them, convinced that at some point in one of these arguments they'd actually come to blows.

The stupid thing was, he'd come to like Lily, as had Sirius and - to his utter shock - most of the rest of the crew, who now largely viewed her with a brotherly affection he would never have expected most of them to be capable of, though a few of them still looked at her a little more hungrily than he would have liked. And he was convinced that if the two of them could be convinced to drop the antagonism long enough then James would like her too; she was clever, witty and what he'd seen of her recent actions suggested a certain bravery and sense of adventure. To think that when they'd agreed to take her on board his concern had been protecting her from the crew, most of whom now adored her; it seemed the only thing in real danger on this little voyage was James' sanity.

His attention was diverted from the rowing pair by a whistle from the crow's nest; glancing up he could see the lookout gesturing towards the eastern horizon. Remus moved over to the rail and saw another ship coming up fast.

'Sirius.'

He called the second mate over, and the two of them eyed the approaching vessel. 'They've been on the horizon for a while now, but they've only just started moving closer. What do you think?' murmured Remus quietly.

'They're using our wind.' Sirius replied grimly. 'And this course is a pretty unusual one, through some dangerous seas; I avoided all major shipping routes since James was so paranoid about it. I can't imagine anyone honest would be all the way out here.'

He pulled a telescope from his pocket, extended it out and offered it to Remus; the first mate peered through it quickly then passed it back to Sirius. 'No colours.'

'Pirate then.' Said Sirius, slipping the telescope back into his pocket. 'They might just pass us by.'

'We can hope.' Remus responded. 'But I doubt it. They're a bit bigger than the Fawkes, and I can't imagine they'll let an opportunity slip by; must be unusual to come across another ship all the way out here, so far from prying eyes.'

He twisted round and raised his voice so it would carry. 'Captain!'

James and Lily both looked over at Remus' shout, and with one final curt word in her direction, James began to cross the deck to his first and second mate. He took one look at the ship before ordering everyone to posts, and dispatching Sirius to remove Lily – "that shrieking harpy" – from the deck.

'Come about!'

'All hands to starboard stations!'

'Ready on the guns!'

The shouts echoed across the deck as the crew ran to prepare for the potential fight; as the ship got closer, its intention became clearer as they could see the light glinting off the banks of cannons in its side and the crew gathering on deck, boarding planks propped along the rail, ready to be used.

James checked his pistol then tucked it into the waistband of his breeches, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he stood with Remus staring at the oncoming ship; Sirius arrived back from escorting Lily to her cabin, breathless and red-faced as he came to a stop alongside them. For a moment the three of them simply looked at the vessel that was approaching them, feeling the curious mixture of dread and anticipation that accompanied any fight.

'So, I'm thinking that the important question here is; is this a good day to die? I mean, I haven't even had any rum this morning.' Sirius said lightly.

Remus gave him a withering look. 'It's _never_ a good day to die Sirius.'

James drew his sword grimly. 'It's a good day for someone else to die though.'

The other two looked at each other before Remus spoke. 'A _little _aggressive, even for you, but certainly apt for the circumstances.' Sirius shrugged, and then the other ship came within firing range and logical thought became temporarily impossible.

The cannons fired, and the ship rocked from the force of impact, once, twice, and then Sirius' voice rose and the Fawkes responded with fire of her own. Spray was thrown up and the sound of rending wood filled the air as the two ships fired on each other mercilessly, splinters of wood flying every time a shot landed. The two ships pounded away at each other, each lurching violently every time a shot hit until finally they came alongside each other and the guns fired a final round; for either crew to use cannons when the two ships were this close would be far too dangerous for both of them.

James shouted for the crew to step away from the rail as grappling hooks flew over it and gripped tight, pulling the Fawkes towards the attacking ship, and as boarding planks began to land the enemy crew spilled over the rail and onto the deck.

James led the hand to hand fight against the crew of the other ship, leaving Sirius and Remus to deal with everything else; being in the thick of the action was second nature to all three of them now, and their fighting was honed. They worked seamlessly as a team, all three of them constantly aware of where the others were and what they were doing, and communicating without words, and the rest of the crew fought alongside them to overcome their attackers.

It was hard to see through the clouds of gunpowder and the spray being kicked up from the sea, but they kept fighting, parrying and thrusting and lunging as they repelled the boarders one man at a time, to a background of gunfire and screams and splintering wood.

James lungs were sore from breathing the smoke, and his arm was tired, but the crew of the other ship were poorly trained and they hacked and swung with little style and no technique at all. They weren't difficult to fight; there were simply a lot of them, and presumably they usually relied upon strength in numbers in a fight. Having the bigger army didn't always mean winning the war though; he'd always bet on the better trained, better equipped army himself. He was confident in himself and his crew, and his only concern was how many injuries they'd sustain from this.

He'd briefly lost sight of Remus and Sirius, but he forced himself not to worry about them and carried on fighting, helping his men to force the other crew back towards their own boarding planks. When their opponents finally began to break and James could draw breath, he opened his mouth to order boarding planks of their own – he doubted there was anything on their ship that he wanted, but he'd be damned if he'd let this act of aggression go unpunished - but Remus had beaten him to it, anticipating his Captain's thoughts as usual.

'Prepare to board!' The first mate's voice rang across the decks. 'All hands!'

Sirius' voice also rose over the shouts. 'Make ready on the cannons!'

Even in the middle of the fight, despite the pain in his chest and arm, James grinned in appreciation of his two mates, ever-dependable and so thoroughly capable. His crew surged across to the other ship, and after a moment to draw breath he followed, determined to end it as quickly as possible.

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Lily wished she was up on deck; there may have been a fight going on, and she had absolutely no wish to become involved in it, but being in the sea air, even when it was filled with gunpowder and smoke, would have been preferable to being cooped up in her cabin. Seasickness wasn't something she suffered with, but there was something different in the movement of the ship in battle; the way it rocked when the cannons fired, or worse, the way it lurched when a cannonball hit.

She could hear the feet scuffling on the deck above her head, could hear sword clang against sword and the sound of wood splitting and breaking as the two ships pressed against each other. Every now and then she could make out the voices of the captain and the two mates rising over the din as they gave orders to the men, but for the most part it was indistinct yelling and screaming, and the sound of the water slapping against the side of the ship, and the gunfire echoing in her head.

She perched on the very edge of her bed – _Remus' _bed – and gripped it tightly with both hands, trying to mentally block out the noise, since she couldn't physically do so, not that she hadn't tried. She felt suddenly very young and naïve.

She stayed like that for a while, huddled up like a small child, knees tucked up under her chin while her knuckles turned white on the wood of the bed frame, until she registered that the noise was not as loud as it had been; it sounded as if it was coming from further away now, it was no longer directly over her head, and she couldn't hear gunfire anymore.

She was just wondering whether she dared risk leaving her cabin for a breath of air when the door opened and one of the crew almost fell into the room. She recognised him as Thomas, one of the youngest - and kindest - crew members; he'd spent an hour or so keeping her company the other day, trying to teach her how to tie a sheepshank knot, until the captain had intervened and sent him off back to his post with a few choice curses.

'Scuse me Miss Evans, but Mr Lupin is wondering if you are any good at treating wounds miss, 'cause Mr Black has caught a nasty one on his arm miss!'

'Er…' a little panicked, Lily glanced around her room; her eyes settled on the neat pile of her clothes, specifically the petticoat she'd been wearing under the dress she'd originally come on board in – she habitually wore britches and a shirt now – and she snatched it up and turned to face Thomas. 'I know a little.'

She followed him out onto the deck and across one of the boarding planks, trying her very hardest not to see any of the bloodstains on the wood, or worse the crumpled heaps that had once been men. Her eye fell on the name painted on the side of the other ship: the Acromantula.

Thomas looked at her apologetically as he kept a careful eye on her progress across the plank. 'Sorry miss. Reckon you shouldn't be seeing this kind o'thing.'

She gave him the bravest smile she could muster. 'That's alright Thomas.'

Her boots landed on the deck of the Acromantula. 'Where is Mr Black?'

Thomas pointed towards the aftcastle of the ship. 'Right over there miss, with the captain and Mr Lupin.'

Lily looked in the direction he was pointing in and picked out the captain and Remus pretty quickly; with their height they were hard to miss, especially James, with that distinctive mass of thick dark hair and broad shoulders.

Shaking her head at such random thoughts running through her mind she smiled briefly at Thomas and then made her way over to them.

'Lily.' Remus gave her a grateful smile as she arrived at his side with a quiet greeting. 'Sorry to ask you…'

'It's fine, really.' Lily cut off his apologies as she pushed past him and knelt next to Sirius, examining his shoulder with careful fingers. 'I'm probably long overdue for seeing a bit more of real life.'

James snorted quietly, though still loud enough for her to hear, and pointedly didn't look in her direction to see the glare she aimed back at him.

She examined Sirius' wound carefully; it was deep, but it seemed quite clean and he appeared to be able to move his arm without too much difficulty. She glanced up at Remus.

'Do you have some rum or wine?'

'Good thinking Lily.' Sirius smiled happily up at her as he spoke approvingly, and she gave him an affectionate slap on the wrist.

'Not for you to drink you dolt! To clean the wound.'

Remus turned to one of the seamen hurrying past and gave an order to bring rum from the ships' stores; the man returned moments later with a bottle and Lily tore a strip off her petticoat and began to wipe out Sirius' cut, laughing at every one of his numerous moans and complaints and mocking him mercilessly for being a whining misery. She tore more strips and began to bandage his arm up, fashioning a sling of sorts from the material.

'Do you see this?' Sirius demanded of his two friends. 'I'm being fixed up with lady's undergarments here. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.'

'Stop whinging; at least you're _getting_ fixed up, which is more than you'd normally get.' Said James crisply, and for the first time Lily noticed a large gash across his temple, almost hidden by that mop of appallingly messy hair.

'Let me clean that.' She tied off Sirius' bandage and rose with petticoat and rum bottle clutched in one hand; she reached her spare hand up to touch James' face and he flinched away from her. 'Don't be a baby.'

'I'm not.' He said catching her wrist in his fist and holding her away from him. 'I don't need cleaning up; I've had plenty worse than this.'

'You won't be saying that if an infection takes hold.' Lily said reprovingly, her eyes fixed stubbornly on him even as he pointedly avoided her gaze. 'Just let me; it'll take seconds.'

'Oh James, just let her.' Remus shook his head at his friend's stubbornness; the blood was dripping into his eye already. Recognising defeat, James grumpily sat down on a nearby barrel to allow Lily to reach, and she began to wipe the blood from his face with more care than he would have expected from her. He couldn't deny that her hands were cool and soft, and her touch was a lot more gentle and tender than he would have got from anyone else cleaning up his injuries.

She cleaned the last vestiges of blood from his face and then dipped a clean piece of cloth in the rum before swiping it across the wound; he hissed out a painful breath and she suppressed a giggle. He glowered up at her, and for some reason that she couldn't possibly have explained, she found his expression amusing and she smiled at him instead of scowling back as she normally would have. She used her free hand to push his mop of hair back from the gash, and the sun hit his eyes as he looked up at her, highlighting the golden accents in the hazel. They looked at each other in silence for a moment before she carried on dabbing the alcohol into the gouge.

When she'd finished cleaning the cut out with rum, she replaced the damp strip of petticoat with a dry one and pressed it to his temple to stop the bleeding, holding her palm flat to the side of his face to help keep the pressure.

Will, one of the crew members on the Fawkes who'd been particularly sweet to her since her arrival, walked past with one of the captured men from the Acromantula and gave her a cheery nod; the man he was escorting glanced over at them as they passed and did a double take.

'I know you.' The man stopped dead, yanking Will to a halt. James looked up at him and his brow furrowed, promptly causing blood to start running from the gash again and making Lily hiss reproachfully at him.

'Never seen you before in my life.' James answered shortly, turning his eyes and his attention away from the man as Will began to tug him along again.

'Not you. Her.' The man spoke again, turning in Will's grip and straining against his arm to look at the little group.

'I doubt that.' Said Remus coldly, noting the way Lily's posture stiffened out of the corner of his eyes; she was obviously bothered by the man's words, and no wonder. A lady like Lily wouldn't have been regularly associating with pirates - current circumstances being an obvious exception - and he didn't blame her one bit for feeling insulted. After all, the only women pirates regularly associated with were wenches, and she quite clearly wasn't one. He folded his arms as he looked the sailor over before addressing Will. 'Get him out of here.'

Will pulled roughly on the man's arm and began to drag him away, but the man kept fighting his grip and turned to call over his shoulder. 'My name's Diggory. I used to be a gardener on your father's estate in Cokeworth. He fired me for poaching.'

To his shock, James felt Lily's hand begin to tremble against his face; he glanced away from Diggory and looked up at her and saw that she had squeezed her eyes shut and her face had paled. His eyes flicked back towards the pirate who was still straining towards them, Will still holding onto his arm but unsure as to whether he should pull him away or not.

'Lady Lily? It's you isn't it?' Diggory rasped out.

James looked straight back up at Lily, and her eyes slammed open and immediately met his as her body began to quake more violently and her voice came out in harsh whispers only he was close enough to hear. 'Shut him up. Please, please don't let him say anything else, don't let him tell anyone else. Please, its life or death, I'm begging you.'

Something in her trembling voice and pleading eyes had James rising to his feet without thinking, his body moving to acquiesce to her request before his brain had time to catch up. Her hand fell back to her side where it hung limply, and James bent slightly to pick up his sword from where it rested against the barrel he'd been sitting on. He took two predatory steps forward and had the blade to Diggory's throat before Lily had even properly registered that he had moved. He thought for only a second before he decided on a course of action, and he spoke in quiet but deadly tones, making sure his voice didn't carry beyond the six of them currently involved in this little incident.

'I'm going to give you two options here Diggory. You will pick carefully, because there will be no second chances. Understand?'

Diggory gulped and nodded very carefully, wary of moving his head too far with James' blade hovering near his throat. James lowered his sword ever so slightly and continued to speak. 'Option one is that you join my crew, work hard and do not even _mention_ this again unless I tell you to.'

His sword point rose again, until it was hovering right at Diggory's throat, the tip just barely brushing over his skin. 'And I strongly suggest you give due consideration to option one, because option _two_ is that I slit your throat right here on deck.'

Diggory nodded gratefully, his eyes closing in his relief. 'I'll join your crew captain; I didn't much like mine anyway. And I know how to keep quiet.'

James inclined his head. 'See that you do. I can assure you that you won't like the consequences if I catch you running your mouth. Show him the ropes Will, and keep your mouth shut too.'

'Aye aye captain.' Will let his grip on Diggory's arm loosen, but he still kept hold of him as the two pirates headed off together.

James turned back to Lily who was still shaking and staring blindly ahead as she stood rooted to the spot; he grasped her arm and began to drag her rather roughly back towards the Fawkes, past the curious stares of the crew and leaving a rather dumbstruck Sirius and Remus behind to handle everything else.

She didn't say a word to him, nor did she resist as he pulled her directly to the door to his cabin and pushed her in, slamming the door behind them. She stumbled a little but stayed upright, standing unmoving and silent in the middle of the floor as he prowled around her.

'Start talking Miss Evans. Or should that be _Lady Lily_?'

'Don't.' She closed her eyes as she whispered the word. 'Please don't.'

He noted the uncharacteristic note of defeat in her voice, but couldn't find very much sympathy. James perched on the edge of his desk and looked at her with a flinty gaze. 'I'm not feeling very charitable right at this moment Miss Evans, since you haven't told me an inch of truth since you boarded my ship.'

'None of it was important.' He could still barely hear her voice.

'It's important enough that the very mention of it has you trembling and begging me to help you.' A brief memory of her beseeching expression floated across his mind, and he rubbed a hand over his hair in what both Sirius and Remus would have recognised as a gesture of repressed frustration and annoyance. 'You just told me it was _life or death_. I have a new crewmember I know nothing about thanks to you, so let's hear all the nasty details.'

She opened her eyes and fixed him with the most profoundly miserable look he'd ever seen on another person's face. 'If I tell you everything, will you keep to our agreement?'

James looked at her appraisingly, surprised by her sudden attempt at bargaining. 'Is there a reason I wouldn't?'

'I'm not sure.' She answered honestly. 'I imagine that an awful lot of people wouldn't.'

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'Well, at the moment you don't have much of a choice. If you _don't _tell me what the hell is going on I'll just dump you off at the next port; that's if you're_ lucky_, because the way I feel right now, you might be going straight over the side.' He folded his arms across his chest and stretched his legs out in front of him, his eyes intent on her and watchful for any sigh of falsehood. 'At least if you tell me what the devil is going on there's a fifty-fifty chance I might decide that you and your three hundred galleons are still worth the trouble.'

Lily sniffed a little and wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes fixed on a point on the cabin wall as she began to speak.

'My name - my _real _name - is Lady Lillian Evanstone. I've always gone by Lily since I was a little girl, and my lady's maid suggested we just shorten my last name; it was already sort of familiar then.' She drew in a deep breath. 'My father was the Earl of Cokeworth; he died nine months ago. I've spent the last God knows how many weeks looking for my brother, Matthew. He's been missing for two years.'

James' eyebrows rose. 'And you're going to look for him in Spinner's End?'

Lily nodded. 'I tried everywhere I could think of and found nothing, then a week ago Alice - that's my maid - found a sailor who claimed to have met him recently on board a pirate ship bound for Spinner's End. He described Matthew too well to have been lying.'

James looked at her curiously. 'Why go to Spinner's End yourself to look? Why not pay someone? You must have the funds.'

Lily sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. 'I couldn't risk anyone else knowing what I was doing; it's too dangerous. If the wrong person heard…'

She trailed off, and James was left as confused as ever. 'Surely people wouldn't exactly be shocked that you are looking for your brother, especially having recently lost your father?'

'Most people have given him up for dead.' Lily's eyes were damp now, though she was holding back the tears well enough. 'And there are some who don't want him found.'

There was a moment of heavy silence, then James rose from his perched position and went to a cupboard, pulling out two glasses and a bottle of brandy. He jerked his head towards his desk chair. 'Have a seat. I think you need some of this if you're going to get the rest of it out.'

She was about to refuse, just out of habit and for the principle of the thing, then realised there was absolutely no point; he'd just shove her into the chair, and possibly even tie her to it if she annoyed him enough. She moved around his desk and sat in his surprisingly comfy chair as he poured two measures of brandy and handed one to her, leaning back against one of his bookshelves.

'Sip it slowly.' He advised, drinking from his own glass before she started accusing him of trying to poison her. She took a tentative sip then gagged.

'Ugh, that's foul.'

He grinned at her, and she was surprised at the change that genuine smile made to his face; his eyes seemed brighter and his brow less furrowed. He looked younger, more carefree and boyish. 'You get used to it.' He said, taking a casual mouthful. 'It helps numb things a little. Tell me why some people don't want you to find your brother.'

Lily placed the glass down on the desk and clasped her hands round it, turning it around and around, just for something to do with her hands.

'My father's estate is quite large and it's worth quite a lot of money. The law says a daughter can't claim it; only the oldest male of the family line can, and that makes Matthew the only possible heir. If he doesn't claim it within a year of my father's death, it reverts to the crown. The king gets everything. Except my older sister Petunia's share; she's already married, so her husband has already claimed hers on her behalf. Pig; my father had barely been buried before he was sticking his nose in the trough.'

James swallowed more of his brandy, prompting her to do the same. 'So this is about keeping your family's estate? Worried about losing all that family money?'

Lily looked sharply up at him with watery eyes. 'I couldn't give a sod about the money.' He was a little shocked at her use of even the mild curse, she was usually the epitome of a lady, but before he had time to respond she was continuing. '**I **count as part of the estate. If Matthew doesn't claim it, the King owns _me_ along with everything else.' Her tone turned bitter, and she took a much larger swig of brandy as James sat dumbstruck.

Recovering his wits, he put his glass down on the table and knelt next to her. 'Lily?' It was the first time he'd ever used her name, and the surprise had her turning her face to him without thinking. She vaguely registered that their eyes were level when he was kneeling like that. 'How can you be part of the estate?'

She swallowed heavily. 'You really don't know much about the laws of this kingdom do you? I'm not surprised.'

James shrugged. 'I pay very little attention to_ any_ laws. But as it happens, I was actually raised in Diagon, and if I'm not going to bother abiding by their laws, why would I bother learning about anyone else's? So I can keep track of how many times a day I break them?'

Lily looked at him strangely, and he suddenly realised that he'd voluntarily offered personal information about himself to someone for the first time in probably three years. He gave her an impatient look to cover his confusion and gestured for her to speak; she looked down at her hands for a moment before she continued.

'Under Hogsmeade's laws, as an unmarried woman I'm a ward of my male relatives until I do marry; since I have no male relatives left, I'm a ward of whoever the estate falls to. They get to control my inheritance – not that I care about that – and control _me_. They can do what they want with me, including marry me off to whoever they like. And the King already has someone picked out for me.' She laughed bitterly and took a rather large gulp of brandy.

'And you're not happy about that?' James hazarded.

Lily gave him a withering look. 'An arranged marriage doesn't exactly meet with my approval at the best of times, but his choice of groom displeases me still further. It's Severus Snape, Baron of Slytherin.' James sucked in a quick breath, his expression shocked, and Lily glanced up, her eyes narrowing as she saw his face. 'You've heard of him.'

James nodded. 'I'm…aware of him.' He put his brandy glass on the desk and tentatively touched Lily's hand. 'So you are doing all this covertly, and all by yourself, because you think that if he knew what you were doing, the King would try and stop you finding your brother because he wants the estate for himself?'

She nodded listlessly, her short burst of anger spent and replaced with misery as she stared, unseeing, into her glass of amber liquid.

'How do you know about all this? Surely the king isn't fool enough to come and announce his intentions to you?' He asked, brow furrowing as he considered the possibilities.

'I eavesdropped.' She whispered. 'My father was on his deathbed and King Cornelius came to "pay his respects".' She laughed bitterly. 'Vulture. He stayed in our house for a few nights, and one day he had a visitor – his old friend, Lady Delores of Umbridge – and I listened in to their conversation. That's when I heard them discussing what to do with the estate once my father was gone.'

She looked so incredibly sad, lost in memories as she sat and swirled her brandy round in her glass. James felt a towering sense of pity for her; he'd long ago told himself that he didn't care for anyone besides Remus and Sirius anymore, but he couldn't lie to himself and say that he didn't have sympathy for the predicament she found herself in. Her father had been dying, her brother long lost to her, and she'd been forced to hear someone planning her future with no regard for her welfare, a future that contained something she apparently desperately wanted to avoid. She'd been backed into a corner and forced to resort to desperate measures. He knew a little something about that. He was about to speak, to try and find some words that were suitable for such an occasion, when he was distracted by shouts from outside, and he glanced from Lily to the door and back again.

'Lily.' He waited until she looked at him again. 'I need to go and get us moving on okay? You stay in here for now; I'll be back and we'll discuss this some more.'

She nodded again, and her eyes returned to their contemplation of her glass of brandy. James pushed himself up from the ground and headed out of his cabin to get his ship moving, pushing all the other problems to one side for now.

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**A/N: So, first of all I've pinched actual names of places from HP and used them as the names of countries; this will not be the last you will see of this brazen plundering of JK's world. I've appropriated whatever suited my purposes. **

**Also, I know that it might seem surprising that Lily's secret has come out so quickly, but it's all part of the plan. I always have a plan – might not ****_follow_**** it exactly, but I still have one. What I'm trying to say here is; there's still a lot of story to go, so please don't be too disappointed if you were hoping for a more drawn-out mystery about Lily's background.**


	4. The Devil Is In The Details

**A/N: I don't want to call this a filler chapter because it's not, there's some necessary background and exposition in it. Hopefully it should fill in some details, but it _is_ a bit slower paced than previous chapters; I hope the sheer amount of Jily will make up for it.**

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Lily opened her eyes on a groan. She sat up and looked round her, trying to ignore the pounding in her head; she was on her bed, fully clothed on top of the coverlet and the moonlight was pouring in through her porthole. Hadn't it been day just a few moments ago? They'd been attacked by that other pirate ship, for God only knows what reason - maybe pirates didn't need a reason - and that man had recognised her and she'd been forced to tell the captain what was going on. Maybe she'd dreamt it. Why did her head hurt?

Rising from her bed, she pulled the blanket with her and draped it around her shoulders as she stumbled towards the door. Hoping that some fresh air would help her headache, she headed for the upper deck.

The cool evening air hit her and made her head swim, but she bravely pushed on until she reached the rail and there she stopped, leaning out to watch the reflection of the moon and stars on the sea as she pulled her makeshift shawl a little tighter around her shoulders. She loved the sea; it was something that had always baffled her father about his children, that they all loved to sail, or swim or even just watch the waves from the beach. It had been no surprise to any of them when Matthew had elected to spend a year on a merchant ship, claiming that it would help him to better understand their family's trade associations.

When the merchant ship had sunk in a storm, several people claimed to have seen him make it safely to shore, but he had never returned home and no-one of their acquaintance had seen him since. She knew that almost everyone presumed him dead now – two years was no short time to be missing – but she would not believe it, not until she saw his body with her own eyes.

Feeling slightly less headachy and nauseous she turned to head back to her cabin, but her eye was drawn automatically up to the helm where James, of all people, was standing at the wheel. She started a little, surprised that the captain was manning the helm at what was undoubtedly an ungodly hour, and before she could think properly about what she was doing, she climbed the stairs and joined him on the landing, leaning a hip against the rail as she looked out over the deck.

They stood in silence for a moment, and Lily was just wondering whether she ought to go back to bed and leave him alone when he spoke quietly. 'How are you feeling?'

She turned her head sharply to face him, then instantly regretted it when her head began to protest the sudden movement by resuming its pounding. 'I feel a little unwell actually.' She managed weakly, wondering what could have prompted him to ask after her well-being.

He snorted very softly under his breath. 'Why am I not surprised?'

She looked at him curiously, and a lazy grin spread across his face as he elaborated. 'Feeling a little unwell isn't unexpected, given that you drank half a bottle of my best brandy earlier.'

'I did not!' Lily exclaimed, then she clapped a hand to her head as the furious pulsing in her temple increased, the blanket dropping away from her shoulders as she let go of it. She gave some thought to picking it up, but she wasn't at all sure she would be able to straighten up again once she bent down.

'I beg your pardon my lady, but you most certainly did.' He sounded amused rather than irritated. 'By the time I came back from getting the ship properly underway again, you'd had more than a third of what was in that bottle, and you were all but passed out in my chair; I carried you down to your cabin. And don't worry, no-one else saw.'

'Oh God.' She groaned miserably. 'I…I'm sorry, I'll pay for the brandy…'

He cut her off quickly. 'Don't worry about it. It was worth it to see a society lady get completely smashed; I'm grudgingly impressed.'

She looked to him sceptically. 'You're impressed that I got myself blind drunk in _your_ cabin, off _your_ brandy?'

He shrugged. 'Well, it seemed a perfectly legitimate reaction to the circumstances to me. I just wouldn't have thought a lady like yourself would have it in you.'

'What would you know about ladies like me?' Asked Lily, just the barest hint of scorn in her voice; he was mocking her, she'd mock him right back.

'More than you'd think.' He muttered under his breath, and catching the look of curiosity that flamed in her eyes he quickly changed the subject. 'Do you want to try your hand at the helm?'

She started again. 'What?'

He raised an eyebrow. 'I asked if you'd like to try the helm. I'm assuming it's something you've never tried before, correct?'

She nodded quickly and looked at him with cautious eyes. He lifted one hand from the wheel and stepped to one side, leaving his other hand at the top to keep it steady.

'Then come here.' He gestured for her to step towards him, and she did so slowly.

'Put your hands on the wheel.' He instructed, and she complied, placing her hands on either side of the wheel as she'd seen him do. 'Now just keep her steady. Don't let the wheel spin; the waves will try and pull in a certain direction, just keep it straight.'

He began to lift his hand off, and she panicked a little. 'Don't…'

'It's fine.' He soothed. 'It's a gentle ocean tonight. Trust me, it's a different matter being helmsman in a storm.'

'I'm sure.' She answered, gripping the wheel tightly as she remembered the ship bucking over the waves just the other day. He was right, she could feel the pull of the ocean tugging at the rudder vibrating up through the wheel, but the only thing it took to hold the ship steady on its course was her hands on a wooden wheel. There was something wonderful about that; no wonder he liked it.

'See?' He stepped back from her and grinned. 'Easy.'

'Hmmm.' She kept her eyes ahead, watching the bow of the ship cut through the sea and throw up spray. They were silent for a few moments, the both of them staring ahead at the horizon as the ship ghosted over the waves.

'Was it true?' James asked suddenly, and Lily almost let go of the wheel in surprise.

'What?' She asked, firming up her grip and glancing at him over one shoulder.

'What you told me earlier.' He clarified, as he moved to pick up her discarded blanket from where it lay, forgotten on the floor. 'About your brother, and the king.'

Her shoulders stiffened for a moment, then almost immediately sagged in defeat. There was no point in fighting it; he knew.

'I was hoping I'd dreamt all that you know. When I woke up in my cabin, I was really optimistic that the whole thing had been a nightmare.'

'Sorry.' James shook his head and leaned back against the rail. 'It all happened; the ship, Diggory, our little chat. So. Was it true?'

'Yes.' Lily whispered. 'Yes it is. I have to find my brother, and soon, or all Evanstone family assets are forfeit to the crown. Including me.' She let out one short laugh. 'God, don't I sound bitter?'

James folded his arms across the chest, her blanket still held firmly in one fist. 'I'd say you have a right to be.'

She threw him a surprised look. 'You'd be the only one, I'm sure. I'm a noblewoman; it's my lot in life to look pretty, keep my mouth shut and do whatever the man who governs my life tells me to, whoever that might be. I know I shouldn't complain, when there are so many women worse off than me; I'm lucky, or so I've been told.'

James shrugged. 'In that you've wanted for no luxury, that's certainly true. But you've never been free to make your own choices either, and I'd say that's worse. Better to be poor and free than rich and caged.'

'Well, thank you for those words of comfort.' She replied dryly, and he laughed, more pleased than he expected to be to discover that she had wit as well as courage.

'You're making your own choices now aren't you?' He stepped back towards her and draped the blanket around her shoulders before resting a hand on the wheel again. 'Is someone going to come after you Lily? Will the King send someone?'

The surprise of his gentle gesture, and of hearing him use her name again struck her silent for a moment, so she shook her head slowly, releasing her grip on the wooden spokes and ceding the wheel to him to give her time to find her voice. 'I'm sure he would if he knew where I was; he has been keeping track of me. Alice - my lady's maid - is pretending that I've fallen ill in King's Cross and that I'm confined and unable to receive visitors or travel; I've left her my signet ring, so she can seal any letters she needs to send, and hopefully that will be enough to fool people into thinking I'm there. There's no reason for anyone to question it, at least for a while. I hope I can get back to her before our ruse is discovered.'

'And if she's discovered before you can?' he asked, genuinely curious about the arrangements she'd made.

'I left a bag of gold with her and told her that if anyone seems to be becoming suspicious she's to take it and disappear. Alice has good instincts; she'll know if she needs to get out. And if that happens and our subterfuge is discovered, I just hope that I'll have bought myself enough time for a really good head start.'

He looked at her with interest. 'You really did think this through didn't you? I thought you had just rushed off on a whim; you're a very odd gentlewoman. Where _does _the daughter of an Earl acquire such a duplicitous nature?'

'Well you're an odd sort of pirate.' She shot back at him. 'And of course I thought it through; King Cornelius isn't a fool. Well, he is, but only in some ways. He's been keeping close watch on me ever since my father fell ill. He was like a vulture perched on his death-bed; now he's just waiting for the time limit to run out so he can claim his damn property.'

James rested his forearm on the wheel as he steered the ship with one hand, his body inclined towards her. 'Including you.'

A little flicker of despair crossed her face, and he wished he hadn't said anything. 'Yes.' She answered quietly. 'Including me, and once he's claimed the estate, he'll have shipped me off to my arranged marriage within the month, like the good little bargaining chip I am.'

'Bargaining chip?' He pondered that for a moment. 'That explains it. Slytherin is only a small Barony, not particularly important in the kingdom of Knockturn, and I can't say I didn't wonder why the king was so particularly keen to marry you off to a minor foreign noble when he could have granted you to one of his loyal courtiers. But he's cementing an alliance.'

'Of course he is; he's a coward.' Said Lily harshly, oddly unsurprised that a pirate should be conversant with the nature and intricacies of political manoeuvring. She had ceased to have expectations when it came to this particular batch of brigands. 'And a fool. There can be no peace between Knockturn and the other kingdoms. Thomas Riddle is a tyrant, and a usurper, and now he's settled comfortably on the throne in Knockturn and consolidated his power there, he's going to spread through the other kingdoms like an infection.'

James looked at her with some surprise. As a noblewoman she wasn't expected to even know about, let alone understand, the politicking that went on between states, but she saw through King Thomas Riddle quite clearly, and at a time when many didn't recognise the despot for what he was.

'Forgive me for asking.' James began, certain he was about to offend her. 'But how did this come about? How did you end up being part of whatever agreement Riddle and your king are cooking up?'

Lily sighed. 'Because Severus Snape is a loyal follower of_ King Thomas.' _She spat the name out. 'And has been since he began his rise to power. He asked for me, and Riddle is _graciously_ granting his request as a "reward" for his loyalty.'

She leaned against the rail with her back to him and stared out to sea. 'I don't even know how he knew about my father's illness, unless he'd been having me watched.'

James remained silent, and she picked at splinters in the wood of the rail with her fingers while she worked up the courage to continue. 'I knew him as a child; he was different then; a little older than me, but kind. His mother was friends with mine; she was a caring woman, if a little foolish, but when she remarried…well, suffice to say her second husband was a close friend of Riddle, he was a brute, and he had a great impact on Severus. He became cold and cruel. Twisted almost. Our families were still friendly though, so we saw each other regularly as I grew up. He actually asked me once, if I would promise myself to him; I said no, because I didn't ever think I could love him like that.'

She turned to face James again. 'And he did this.' She moved closer to him and rolled her sleeve up, holding her arm up to reveal a thin scar on the inside of her forearm, close to her elbow, in the rough shape of a W. It was obviously old, and long healed, but the mark was a livid puckered line. 'With a dagger his stepfather had given him. He said it stood for witch, because that's what I was; an evil witch who toyed with people's feelings. He said that a wicked, unfeeling creature like me was undeserving of my title and position. I wasn't quite sixteen.'

James looked at the scar and tried to imagine how deeply Snape must have cut into the flesh of a young girl to leave such a brutal mark on her. When he didn't say anything, Lily felt the need to fill the silence, dropping her arm and nestling tighter into her blanket as she delved into her memories.

'He tried to apologise.'

James eyes rose to meet hers, his expression incredulous. 'I wouldn't have thought there were enough apologies in the world to excuse something like that.'

'I happen to agree. So did my father. They left the day after he did it and we never saw them again, though Severus did send me several letters. I ignored them but...'

She sighed. 'Anyway, now my father is gone, and the king is more than willing to trade me as part of his peace deal. I need to find my brother, Captain Potter.'

'James.'

Lily blinked in surprise. 'I'm sorry?'

'My name is James. You might as well use it; I'm not _your _captain after all.'

She looked at him thoughtfully. 'James.'

'That's right.' He looked at her, a noblewoman standing on the deck of a pirate ship in the moonlight, risking everything in an effort to save herself from a future she couldn't bear the idea of; he'd met soldiers with less courage. 'And I'll help you. I'll help you look for your brother; I'm afraid you haven't much hope on your own.'

'Why would you do that?' She sounded baffled, and he stared at her with an intensity she didn't understand before speaking again.

'Because, forgive me the slight, we aren't so different, you and I. I know what it's like to be told to toe the line when every part of you knows you shouldn't. I found a way out; maybe I can help you find yours too.'

Those words would echo through her head for the rest of the night, long after she'd left him at the helm and retired to her room. She didn't understand, and she was certain he wouldn't explain, but her curiosity ran rampant nonetheless, and she found herself drifting off to sleep, still inventing possible scenarios that would explain the conflicting parts of Captain James Potter.

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'Up you get!' James' cheerful voice echoed round the cabin as Sirius hit the floor with a solid thud and a grunt.

'Whu? James? What in the name of seven hells did you do that for?' Sirius groaned as he crawled out from the tangle of blankets he'd landed in having been heaved unceremoniously from his bed.

James pointed an accusing finger. 'Because once again Sirius, _you _are responsible for the mess we've gotten into. Now get up. You too Remus.' He turned his attention to his first mate, staring at him bleary-eyed over the edge of his makeshift cot in the corner of the room. 'Don't think I won't give you the same treatment.'

He headed for the door. 'We need to have a serious talk. My cabin in fifteen minutes. Bring Lily.'

The door slammed shut behind him, and Sirius rolled to look up at Remus. 'Did he really say that we had to have a serious talk, and that we should bring _Lily_?'

Remus raised an eyebrow. 'For that matter, when the hell did he start calling her Lily?'

Sirius crawled towards his pile of clothes and began to pull them on. 'I don't know and I'm not sure I want to, especially if it means they've been, uh, getting better acquainted.'

Remus' boot hit the side of his head. 'She's not a wench you clot, she's quite clearly a noblewoman! I doubt that she'd even understand the euphemism.'

Sirius grinned at him. 'I don't know. I've met my fair share of noblewomen who knew _exactly_ what it meant. Being nobility doesn't mean you don't like sex.'

'You have the mind of a gutter rat.' Remus announced as he retrieved his thrown boot from Sirius' half of the room. 'And I don't know why I associate with you.'

'Same reason James does; my dashing good looks and instincts for finding trouble.' Sirius flashed him a quick grin, and Remus resisted the urge to clobber him.

'I am going to get Lily and head up to James' cabin.' Remus stopped with his hand on the door handle. 'I recommend that you get yourself up there, or there's no telling what James will decide to do to you. But I've always wanted to try keelhauling somebody, so I might suggest that.'

He ignored the rude hand gesture Sirius aimed at him and left the room, walking the few steps to his cabin, which Lily was currently occupying. He knocked gently and waited for a response; to say he was surprised at Lily's appearance was an understatement.

She was a dishevelled mess; her clothes were all askew, not to mention they were a wrinkled mess, her hair was a bird's nest and she was rubbing her face with both hands. 'Remus?'

'Lily.' He answered, the shock evident in his tone. 'Are you sick?'

'Yes.' She said emphatically. 'Very much so. I blame James. James and his bloody brandy.'

Remus eyebrows rose. Lily never swore. And she never called him James. And she was an early riser, and was usually neatly dressed before the half of the crew that weren't on shift overnight were awake in the mornings. And what was that about brandy?

He was starting to wonder if Sirius had been right after all.

'Er, James wants us in his cabin. Now.' He said, suddenly remembering why he was knocking on her door in the first place.

'Oh God.' Lily's face went pale for some inexplicable reason. 'I'm not sure I'm up to this right now.'

Remus frowned, but offered her his arm. 'It won't be that bad. Come on.'

He gave her a moment to straighten her clothes and tie her hair up before he led her gently out onto the deck and over to James' cabin where he gave the door a sharp rap before pushing it open. Sirius had managed to arrive before him and turned with a smile that faltered when he saw Lily.

'Lily are you ill?' He asked earnestly, turning to scowl at James when he heard him laughing. 'It's no laughing matter if she's sick James!'

'Don't worry yourselves.' James waved a hand dismissively. 'She's not got anything we haven't all had many times over.' He turned to face her with a wide smile. 'Hair of the dog might help Lily. Brandy?'

'I hate you.' She muttered, and he laughed as he reached out and caught her by the elbow.

'No you don't. Come here.' He guided her gently over to his chair and pushed her down with one finger; she didn't exactly have a lot of fight in her today. He opened a cabinet against the wall and pulled out a bottle, un-stoppering it and splashing some of the contents into a glass for her. He plonked it on the desk in front of her.

'Water.' He answered the unasked question in her eyes. 'It's about the only thing that will help; that and plenty of sleep. You can go right back to bed after this, but we need to fill these two in on a few things first. Is that alright with you?'

She took a deep breath and nodded, pulling the glass of water over and drinking from it, holding it between shaky hands. James watched her with furrowed brow. 'Do you want me to explain? And you can just add things if you need to?'

She nodded again, and James turned his attention back to his mates who had watched the entire exchange speechlessly, taken wholly unawares by this apparent shift in their relationship.

'Gentlemen. I have the pleasure to present to you Lady Lillian Evanstone, esteemed daughter of the late Earl of Cokeworth, currently going by the name of Lilith Evans and gallivanting disgracefully across the ocean on a pirate ship.'

Lily groaned at the florid introduction. 'Thanks James.'

'My pleasure.' He shot her a wicked grin over his shoulder, and she found herself rendered momentarily speechless by the added edge of roguishness it gave to his already-good looks. She gave herself a mental slap and pushed the confusing thoughts of James down, deciding that she would ponder them later. She pulled her mind back to the matter at hand, namely James' hurried explanation of her circumstances, and she tuned back in just in time to hear him explain that unless she found her brother, she would become the ward of the King and be forced to marry.

Sirius and Remus both looked fairly appalled, and she found herself unable to meet their eyes, choosing to stare into her glass of water instead. She almost wished it _was_ brandy.

'Surely there must be some other legal route.' Remus was saying. 'I don't know anything about Hogsmeade's laws, but…Lily's of age, aren't you? How old are you Lily?' He addressed the last part of his sentence directly to her, his eyes kind as they focused on her.

She looked up at him. 'Nineteen.'

Sirius whistled through his teeth at the revelation. 'Forgive me for the potential slight, but I was sure that you'd reached your majority. You're so…grown up. You're only nineteen?'

She looked at them both miserably. 'Does it matter?'

Remus looked more sombre than she'd ever seen him look before. 'No, I suppose not. I just thought you were a little closer to our age that's all; I thought perhaps you could claim that as you were an adult, you didn't _need_ guardianship.'

She shook her head. 'Not how it works in Hogsmeade. Age is irrelevant; women are always the responsibility of a man, full stop. Doesn't matter who the woman is, or how old she is. I have to find my brother; he's my only hope to avoid this marriage.'

'You're sure there's going to be a marriage?' Remus asked gently. 'Perhaps the king will not be so cruel.'

James snorted and crossed his arms, and Lily felt tears prickle at the back of her eyes as she was forced to contemplate the reality of the situation once again.

'He's already promised me to the Baron of Slytherin.'

There was a deathly silence, then Sirius growled low in his throat. '_Snape_. That _snake_. That cowardly, greasy son of a bi…'

'Ladies present Sirius.' Remus interrupted sharply, and Sirius rounded on him.

'You know what he is Remus! Almost as well as I do. This is typical of him, manipulating someone's misfortune to his advantage. It's what he does, him and his friends, they prey on people…'

'Sirius.' The word was a low warning from James' throat, and Sirius heeded it immediately, shutting his mouth somewhat mutinously, though Lily's curiosity was already roused by the obviously personal dislike he harboured for Snape. James had recognised the name, and so it seemed did Sirius and Remus. Why would their paths have crossed? They inhabited different worlds.

'We are going to help Lily find her brother.' James said matter of factly. 'We're going to stop at Little Whinging on the way to Spinner's End; while we're there, I want some of the crew to go into the town and see what they can dig up about who's currently in Spinner's End and what's been going on there recently; I don't want to go in blind and find a world of trouble waiting for us.'

Remus nodded approvingly. 'That explains why you wanted to head there to make repairs after our little altercation with the Acromantula, instead of Catchpole; I wondered about that, since it's likely to be slightly harder to come by the proper supplies. It's a good idea. Information is currency after all.'

James acknowledged his first mate's approval with a nod before he faced his second mate. 'Sirius, you're in charge of the watch shifts; make the men stick to it and keep an eye to our shoals at all times. There's no way for us to know if the King is looking for Lily, and if a flotilla of navy ships turns up I'd prefer to have as much warning as possible.'

'Captain.' Sirius nodded curtly, and he and Remus left the cabin to carry out their orders, leaving James and Lily behind.

He turned to look at her and found her staring at him curiously. 'What?'

She sipped her water before she spoke. 'You know Snape.' She replied simply. 'You and Sirius and Remus all know Snape. Why would pirates know a baron? And a baron from a landlocked country too.'

James folded his arms as he looked at her. 'Perhaps we simply know _of_ him.'

She shook her head, rejecting his statement. 'No. Not from the way Sirius reacted. You have a history with him, the three of you.'

He gave her what he sincerely hoped was a withering look, anticipating that it would encourage her to drop the subject; she was not to be so easily put off though, and her expression hardened.

'I told you_ my_ past with him, unpleasant though it was to think about.' She spoke coolly, and he responded in kind.

'_You_ had no choice; this is _my_ ship, and you knew full well that I would remove you from it if you didn't tell me the truth. You, on the other hand, have no such leverage and so cannot make such demands upon me.'

She rose from his chair to glare at him more convincingly, not that it helped; he was still a foot taller than she was, and it was impossible to intimidate him.

'You're right, I can't; I was simply asking. I shan't bother in future.'

They stared at each other for a moment, and to his own surprise, James looked away first. He picked up her half-finished glass of water and drained it.

'Go and lay down Miss Evans. Get some sleep.' His voice was quiet and actually held an edge of softness, but it was quite clearly an order; the tone brooked no argument. Recognising that quarrelling would be pointless, especially when she felt so dreadfully ill anyway, Lily rose and left his cabin without so much as a glance in his direction.

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Unable to sleep and feeling more than a little irritable, James rested his hands on the rail and stared out across the sea. Apparently he'd been doing that more often than usual these last few days; Remus and Sirius had commented on his abstraction, but his nerves had been jangling since they left King's Cross and staring into the distance was somehow calming.

He let out a silent snort. Of course his nerves had been shredded; hadn't he sensed from the start of this ridiculous escapade that the issue of Lily Evans was more complicated than they knew? And now he'd agreed to help her, because he'd allowed her story to touch him, because he remembered what it was like to have someone try to dictate to you; and, if he was wholly honest, because he'd seen fire in her and it intrigued him.

Stupid sentimental fool.

If he squinted, the lights of Little Whinging were just coming into view in the distance; by his estimation, it was about 4:30 in the morning, so they ought to arrive at port by mid-morning. They hadn't made bad time from their previous position, especially carrying damage from their earlier fight.

He didn't much like Little Whinging, though he didn't hate it anywhere near as much as he hated Spinner's End. It wasn't a snake pit of scoundrels like Spinner's End was, it was simply a merchant town, tedious beyond belief, full of dreary and dull people concerned only with mundane things.

Unfortunately he now felt it was imperative that they stop there, since it was such a busy port; someone was bound to know what was going on in the surrounding area. For a price of course.

They could make their repairs, gather as much in the way of supplies as possible, and more importantly they could fish for information on just who was currently in, or heading for, Spinner's End. James thoroughly disliked entering a situation unprepared, and Lily's problem was a particularly thorny one.

Certainly the king could send soldiers after her, and that's what many would do; he wouldn't discount it as a possibility, hence the tightening up of the watch shifts. But if King Cornelius had any idea about Lily's true character - and James had to assume the man wasn't that much of a fool - he would know that she was devious enough to avoid such an obvious move.

He'd given it some thought, and he'd come to the conclusion that if the king discovered Lily's little subterfuge with her lady's maid, he'd take the easiest course of action and offer a reward for her.

Soldiers tended to obey laws; mercenaries and bounty hunters didn't. Offer a sizeable price for turning her in, and every scoundrel in the land would be looking for her; even if they weren't actively doing so, they would certainly take note and keep an eye for a lady with eye-catching red hair.

The king stood almost no chance of catching her with his own troops. He couldn't possibly know which ship she'd left King's Cross on; James happened to know for a fact that seventeen ships had been scheduled to leave port the same day as them, thanks to the exchange of a few coins with the harbour master. It was always good to set sail on the same day as a lot of other ships; pirates tended to commit crimes when in port, and this way the authorities never knew which ship to chase.

And of course he had no idea if she'd gone by sea at all; as far as he knew she might have travelled overland, in which case he'd also need to send soldiers along the various roads she might have left town by. He'd basically have to sweep the entire southern coast with his soldiers, and as he was well aware there were places so lawless that even the king's men didn't venture there; Spinner's End being one of them.

No, if he was aware of Lily's deception, then he would almost certainly use a third party to chase her down. Like a wolf hunting a doe. Bastard.

He only realised how hard he was gripping the rail when he felt a sharp sting in his hands and realised that they had begun to bleed from the splinters in the wood. He took deep breaths for a moment, reminding himself that this was not personal, and he couldn't afford to _make _it personal. He was free of his oppressors; no-one had any claim on him anymore. He would help Lily – _Miss Evans _- escape hers if he could, then she would go home to her estate and he could return to avoiding the nobility, and the memories, like the plague.

He turned from the rail and headed back for his cabin, determined that if he was going to be forced to spend the day repairing his beloved ship and scouting around Little Whinging, having got almost no sleep and instead spending the night adrift in dismal memories, the least he deserved was a drink.

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**A/N: Quick note here about Snape in this story; short explanation, I needed a villainous character pursuing Lily relentlessly, and let's be honest, given Snape's stalkerish tendencies in canon, who better? I'm aware that some of you may feel that the row I wrote, with Snape physically attacking Lily, is a little bit excessive, but I needed the split between them to be as devastating and final as it was in canon. Since this story has none of the bigotry plotline of canon, there wasn't really an insult that he could have flung that would have had the same impact. So I added a physical assault to illustrate how much of a betrayal of their relationship he committed. The story of their friendship is more or less a direct parallel of canon. And the W-shaped scar on Lily's arm is supposed to represent both 'witch', which was the insult Snape used and of course her actual identity in canon, and also 'mudblood' if you invert it. That's just me giggling to myself as I shoehorn in as many HP references as possible. As always, I'm interested to know what you think, so feel free to let me have it if you think that's all totally unreasonable. Wow, that wasn't a short explanation at all.**

**Thanks for reading, big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter (or, in fact, any chapter), and if you haven't already done it check out JilyPirateFest over on Tumblr!**


	5. Conversations and Complications

**A/N: Sorry, everyone, for the delay. Mixture of problems really, none of which are going to be interesting to you, so I won't bother. Here's another chapter anyway, and I imagine it will open up more questions that it will answer.**

**I just thought I'd take a moment here to answer two frequently asked questions from the reviews:**

**1) Peter _will_ be in this fic, but he will not appear for a little while. His part is a little complicated. And yes, James, Sirius and Remus already know him.**

**2) James, Remus and Sirius are all 23. I had to fiddle canon ages a little to make the story fit, so they are four years older than Lily. I actually never gave Snape a specific age when I was plotting this, but he's a little older than Lily but no older than James, so I'm going to say he's 22. **

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The wheel bucked beneath his hands, and Remus' grip tightened as he steered the ship towards the port. The Fawkes had made good time and the afternoon sun shone brightly as they approached the bustling merchant town of Little Whinging. He had sent Sirius to fetch James, who had been conspicuously absent from the main deck for the last few hours, after issuing his instructions - Remus suspected that he was avoiding a certain red-head – but neither the second mate nor the captain had appeared in the ten minutes since.

Just when he was starting to worry, he caught sight of Sirius making his way over to the helm, his long dark hair making him an easily distinguishable figure amongst the rest of the crew who were busily working. The second mate was grinning to himself as he walked, and he stopped directly in front of the helm, eyes focused on Remus as rested his elbows on the wheel and leaned over to murmur something quietly.

Remus' startled eyes flashed away from the horizon to Sirius' amused face. 'What do you mean, _drunk_?' he hissed at his dark-haired friend, who responded with a laugh he couldn't quite muffle.

'I'm certain that you're familiar with the concept, but if you want your memory refreshed on what it looks like, then I'd suggest you step into the Captain's cabin and take a look at James.'

Remus huffed an annoyed breath. 'We do _not _have time for this. All right, watch the helm for me.'

'Oh no.' laughed Sirius. 'Not for a hundred galleons would I miss this one.'

Remus huffed his exasperation. 'Will!' he shouted over his shoulder; the burly young seaman looked up almost instantly. 'Come and take the helm for a few minutes; just keep guiding us in.'

The moment Will's hands landed on the wheel, Remus began to walk over to James' cabin, Sirius trailing in his wake, still smirking. He arrived at the door, thought better of knocking and pushed his way straight in.

James sat behind his desk, an open bottle of brandy near his hand and Remus winced when he saw the level of liquid that remained in it; he could only hope that it hadn't been full when James had started drinking. The Captain was squinting at a chart that sat on top of a haphazard pile of paperwork, but he looked up blearily and grinned at Remus.

'And how are you on this bloody fine day, first mate?'

'Bloody hell James, you _are_ half pissed!' Remus rolled his eyes and crossed the cabin to James' desk to peer at him a little more closely.

'More like three-quarters, truth be told.' James admitted cheerily, drawing a big circle on the chart before discarding it over his shoulder and reaching for another.

'Get away from those charts before you bugger them up totally.' Remus cleared the papers off the desk with one sweep of his arms, gathering the charts up and depositing them on a nearby shelf in a messy pile.

James looked offended. 'I've never ruined a chart in my life! I am a bloody_ superb_ pirate, and an _expert _seaman.'

'When you're sober.' Remus shot back at him before turning to face the second mate. 'Sirius, go and choose six men to take with you into port. Buy supplies and see what gossip you can pick up while being as inconspicuous as possible; no crimes.' He gave him a pointed glare, choosing to ignore the look of innocence on Sirius' face. 'And don't take Will, I want him on the mast repair.'

'Aye aye!' Sirius gave him a mocking salute. 'And what will you be doing?'

Remus gave him a withering look. 'Looking after the ship and trying to get our captain fit to command again.' He turned back to James just in time to see him try to stand up and stagger across the cabin; he intercepted him before he could grab the charts back, and steered him towards his bed instead. He pushed the captain down, ignoring Sirius' parting snort of laughter, and James was passed out almost as soon as he hit the pillows.

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Lily was standing at the bow of the ship, looking out to sea with her cloak's heavily lined hood pulled up round her face when Sirius left James' cabin. He considered her carefully for a moment, taking in her rounded shoulders and general air of melancholy, then gave the orders to arrange a landing party before wandering his way over to her.

'Nice day.' He leaned on the rail alongside her, his eyes facing out to sea just like hers, and waited for her response.

'Yes, I suppose it is.' She answered absently.

'Still feeling unwell?' He hazarded, wondering if James had been wrong to dismiss her infirmity yesterday as nothing more than a hangover.

She laughed, though there was little humour to it. 'You're very diplomatic aren't you? I wasn't sick Sirius, I was hung over after getting howling drunk. Something I've never been before, and hopefully never will be again.'

'Oh, you get used to it. Practice makes perfect.' He answered airily. 'After a while, you can drink barrels of rum and suffer no ill effect.'

'Is that so?' Lily asked, a hint of amusement creeping in. 'And how "practiced" are you?'

'Oh, love.' He waved a hand. 'There's none so skilled in that area as me.'

She giggled then, and he let loose a genuine smile at the sound. Whatever was picking at her couldn't be that bad if she was able to laugh at his feeble humour. He debated with himself for a moment, then settled on a course of action that he was sure James would kill him for later; but that made it a problem for later also.

'Want to come into port with me? We're only picking up supplies and having a scout, but it's a chance to walk on dry land. Talk to people who aren't pirates.' He waved a hand vaguely, wondering what women - bloody_ noble_ women at that - did when they went into town. Presumably they didn't go to taverns. 'Look in shops.'

'That's very kind of you, but no, no thank you.'

Sirius cocked his head as he shifted slightly to look at her, while she kept her gaze determinedly out to sea. 'Why not? Little Whinging is fairly respectable, you shouldn't come to any harm. It's a damn long way from Cokeworth, so you shouldn't be too well-known, and if you keep your hood up I'm sure you won't attract undue attention. And I won't drag you into any trouble. Solemnly swear.'

Lily laughed again. 'No, it's not that. Well, it_ is_, in the sense that I'm worried about being recognised, but…'

Sirius remained silent next to her, but it was a loud silence, a silence that invited her to elaborate. She knew she shouldn't, knew she'd spilled enough secrets to these pirates already, but there was something about Sirius that invited her confidence, and for so long she'd felt like she had so many secrets pressing down on her that she felt the weight of them would crush her. It had been cathartic to spill them, even to James' rather unsympathetic ear, and now she had started to unload them it felt like she was bursting at the seams with them.

'My sister lives somewhere near here. I'm not sure where exactly.'

Sirius cocked an eyebrow. 'You don't know where she lives?'

'No, not exactly. An estate somewhere nearby. Privet Manor or some equally ridiculous name. Her husband is a rather ridiculous_ man_.'

'And the fact that she lives somewhere in this general vicinity is enough to keep you on the ship?'

'Yes.' Said Lily firmly. 'And that, combined with the fact that I have no idea of her address, should tell you all you need to know about our relationship.'

Light dawned for Sirius. 'Ah. _Ah_. Well, I can sing_ that_ tune sweetheart.'

She turned to face him fully for the first time since he'd come over. 'You can?'

'Oh, yes.' He laughed bitterly. 'I had a younger brother. Regulus.'

'Had?' She asked tentatively, wondering if she was prodding too many old wounds.

'Oh, he's still alive if that's what you mean.' Sirius answered with a scowl. 'I just haven't spoken to him for…oh, must be getting on for five years now.'

'Why?' The question was out before she'd had time to consider the wisdom of asking, and she immediately blushed and looked away, worried she'd upset him, but he just laughed.

'Nosy.'

'Sorry.' She blushed a little deeper. 'I've always had this bad habit of asking too many questions. You may have noticed.'

'We all have.' Sirius agreed, smiling at her crookedly.

They stood in silence for a moment or two before Sirius spoke suddenly. 'We had a…disagreement. _I _had a disagreement with my whole family actually, and he thought they had the right of it. Eventually I had to leave home – I was eighteen, so it wasn't exactly a tragedy. I haven't seen or spoken to him since.' He waved a hand dismissively. 'Doesn't really matter anymore I suppose; James and Remus are more my brothers than he ever was anyway. But I'm still not sure that I'd want to bump into him, so I suppose I understand your feelings; not that I've the same concerns as you about being seen.'

She wanted very much to ask him what they'd disagreed about, but she didn't think he'd tell her. Still, she wanted to break the silence, so she settled for the next most interesting question. 'Where did you go? When you ran away.'

He looked up at her with a surprisingly sly smile. 'To James' family. They took me in. They were good people.'

Lily looked out to sea again, her eyes unreadable. 'You've been together for a long time, you and James.'

'Remus too.' Sirius followed her gaze. 'The three of us grew up together; James' family helped Remus out a few times too. We've been through a lot.'

Lily's eyes lowered to the rail in front of her, and she picked at a knot in the wood with her tattered fingernails. 'I wish I'd had someone to run to.'

'You ran to us.' Said Sirius, his hand moving to cover hers and prevent her anxious fidgeting. 'And your maid cared enough to help you do it. And when we find your brother, he'll stand for you in the same way James did for me. In the meantime, you're fine with us.'

He gave her hand one last squeeze. 'You should try and get some rest Lily. You look fatigued.'

She managed a little smile. 'Don't hold back Sirius, tell me what you really think.'

He grinned at her and picked up her hand to kiss the back of it. 'All part of my charm.' He left her standing at the rail, marginally more cheerful than he found her, and considered it worth both the time and the personal revelation. He wasn't a stupid man, and he could tell that she was uneasy having them all know so much about her; if a small piece of his past made her feel better, why would he deny her?

After all, painful though his past was to consider, it was nothing compared to the skeletons lurking in James' closet. There was a veritable bloody _cemetery_ in there.

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When James eventually woke up, it was because Remus was splashing water in his face.

'Bloody, sodding hell! What the fuck do you think you're doing?'

'Excellent.' Said Remus, much louder than was strictly necessary. 'That was almost coherent.'

'Of course it was fucking coherent; I'm always coherent, even when I'm drunk! For fuck's sake.' James snarled as he dragged himself to a sitting position on his bed.

'You're a cheerful drunk James, but you're vile when you're hung over.' Remus put his pail of water down on the floor and crossed his arms as he stared disapprovingly at James.

'I'm not hung over.' Muttered James as he rubbed the crick out of the back of his neck. 'I can handle my drink.'

'Good. Then you're capable of having a serious conversation with me.' Remus span the chair out from behind James' desk and sat across from the bed to face him.

'So, you went on a bender. Haven't seen you do that in over two years.'

James shrugged. 'So I was overdue.'

'No, you're pissed off because you feel like it's all caught up with us again, the whole damned mess, and you weren't ready to have it all thrown at us unexpectedly.'

James stiffened up for a moment, then let his shoulders relax. There was absolutely no point in trying to bluff Remus, he was unbelievably good at reading people; there was a reason that none of the crew would play cards with him anymore.

'It was a shock.' He admitted. 'Hearing Snape's name was the worst I think. I wasn't prepared for it. I try not to think about it too much, and then there's this bloody girl standing in front of me, reminding me of everything I thought we'd left behind.'

Remus leant back in the chair, long legs stretching out in front of him. 'We're not going to be able run from it forever you know. King Thomas has big plans, much bigger than the throne in Knockturn, and with his lackey on the throne in Diagon obeying his every whim and Cornelius offering him peace treaties from Hogsmeade, he's going to think he can rule the world shortly enough. Bad news for us. Not so many places to hide.'

A small smile played on the corner of James' lips. 'I believe Lily expressed it as "spreading through the kingdoms like an infection". I have no idea how that girl ever hoped to pass as a commoner.'

Remus looked steadily at him, carefully ignoring the comment about Lily; _that_ was a conversation for another time. 'It's going to catch up with us. And I don't mean just hearing about it all from a pretty girl in trouble; I mean that one day, we're going to come face to face with it._ He's_ going to catch up with us.'

James pushed himself up from the bed and made his way to his drinks cabinet, pulling out the bottle of water he'd previously opened for Lily and pouring himself a cup. 'I bloody well hope not.'

'You think he's forgotten about you?' Remus folded his arms, his eyes flinty as he looked at James. 'You think that Thomas Riddle has forgotten Lord Jamison Potter?'

James' whole body stiffened at Remus' words. 'That's _not _my name. It was_ never_ my name.'

Remus rose from his seat and pointed his forefinger at James. '_But it should have been._' His tone was cutting, and all the more effective for its calmness. 'You're a loose end James. We all are. And I guarantee that_ King_ Thomas hasn't forgotten any of us; and Severus Snape won't have either. One day, we're all of us going to have to face our demons.'

James took another long swig of water and eyed the brandy bottle. 'Then let's hope it's a long way off.'

Remus sighed and crossed to his friend, resting an understanding hand on his shoulder. 'Let it go James. You need to come to terms with everything that happened; bury the past, before you sink under the weight of it. None of it was your fault.'

The door banged open before James could answer, and Sirius strode cheerfully in. 'Our fearless leader is upright then. Excellent.'

James rolled his eyes and pulled his chair back to his desk, where he collapsed into it. 'Tell me you found out something useful.'

Sirius grinned widely. 'Well, thanks to an _extremely _welcoming daughter of the harbour master, I had a nice long look over the port records, and by my estimation it's unlikely that there's going to be anyone_ too_ unfriendly in Spinner's End at the moment. You know, unfriendly by the standards of Spinner's End.'

'You mean no-one who actively wants us dead.' Said Remus dryly.

'That's about the long and the short of it, yes.' Agreed Sirius. 'But if you're that worried, the_ lovely_ Dorcas said that there is a pub just a few hour's ride away, the Hufflepuff Inn, that is frequented quite regularly by some of the more unsavoury types on their way overland to Spinner's End. Might be worth a little look; we can't assume that unfriendly types would only come in by sea.'

James nodded, unsurprised both by Sirius' ability to wheedle information, and by the astuteness of his suggestion. 'I'll go. If I leave now I can make it back sometime tomorrow, hopefully in the morning. Get the ship ready to sail as soon as I get back.'

Remus looked at him wearily. 'Are you sure that's wise?'

'I'm _not_ hung over Remus, and even if I were, I'd still be a better swordsman than either of you two; I'm the best person to go. And I need to get a few things in town anyway.' James gathered his sword and long coat, pulled a money pouch out from a drawer in his desk and headed out of the cabin, leaving the door open behind him and his two friends staring after him.

Sirius looked at Remus. 'He's cranky.'

Remus waved a hand. 'It's been almost three years, and he's still beating himself up about everything.'

Sirius frowned. 'No-one could have done more than he did; none of it was his fault. If anything, he was the victim.'

'You try telling him that. He knows we don't blame him, but he still blames himself.'

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It was early in the morning of the next day when James returned to the ship - so early it was still dark - and Lily only caught a glimpse of him from her position near the helm as he leaped over the rail and crossed the deck directly to his cabin. She considered following him, then immediately wondered why.

Shaking her head, she said a hasty goodbye to Thomas, who gave her a cheery grin from his position at the wheel, and headed for her cabin instead; she'd stayed in it more or less constantly for the last two days, ever since James had refused to speak of his history with Snape, only coming up for the occasional breath of air when she began to feel the confinement too keenly.

She felt quite strongly that she was on uneven ground with the captain and his mates, which would have been fine, only it wasn't unbalanced in her favour any more. When she'd started this journey, she'd felt firmly in control; no-one knew what she was doing, and she felt like she had the upper hand. Now James, Remus and Sirius all knew her history, knew her story and she knew next to nothing about them. Sirius had made a gesture of trust yesterday by sharing a small part of their past, she recognised that, but it hadn't really altered the scales much as far as she was concerned.

It was infuriating, it was frustrating, and it was more than a little scary, having your future in the hands of pirates.

Though she had to say that they were extremely unusual pirates; all three of them spoke with an air of education that she hadn't expected, they were extremely courteous of her, and they enforced the same courtesy from the crew.

Even though James at least had demonstrated a pirate-like capacity for violence in his dealings with Diggory that had startled her, she still found it difficult to imagine them indiscriminately looting and marauding their way across the oceans.

Giving up on her thoughts, she opened the door to Remus' cabin and threw herself on the bed, promising herself that she would pluck up the courage to approach him again later in the morning, after they'd both managed a few hours sleep.

The sun was well up when she woke, and the weather was fine and the sea calm. She knew they would have left port while she had been asleep, and found she wasn't sorry; she loved being at sea on days like this. She rose and quickly found breeches and a lightweight shirt that weren't too warm for the weather, then she left the security of Remus' cabin and went up on deck.

She enjoyed the late spring air for a few minutes, wandering around the upper deck and raising her face up to the sun to feel its warmth. Several members of the crew gave her amused looks as she wandered past them, but as always none of them acknowledged her, though she knew any of them would speak to her if she approached them first.

She noted Remus in his favoured position at the bow of the ship and wandered over to join him. He noticed her approach, as he always did, and turned to smile at her.

'You look cheerful.' She commented as she joined him.

'Hmm.' He acknowledged the point even as he returned to scanning the papers in his hand. 'You know, for someone who wasn't exactly sold on being a pirate when I became one, I do love being at sea. Being in port feels uncomfortable these days.'

'And there was me thinking that pirates lived for the opportunity to go into port and spend all their ill-gotten gains on beer and rum and wenches and…what else do you spend it on Remus?'

He laughed. 'Well, I don't tend to spend mine on those things anyway, and as for the rest of the crew…well there are roads that even the bravest dare not travel, and investigating _that,_ I would venture to say, is one of them.'

Lily laughed, lifting her eyes up to the sun. 'Well, you aren't the only one who finds they prefer being at sea.'

Remus eyed her curiously. 'If you don't mind the impertinence, you are the oddest girl I've ever met.'

'I rather consider it a compliment actually.'

He laughed at that, and they stood together in companionable silence for a moment; the moment was broken by Sirius' voice yelling Remus' name from James' cabin door.

Remus' head jerked up and he began to move automatically towards the second mate, Lily trailing in his wake, drawn by her curiosity to follow him. Sirius disappeared back into James' cabin, and Remus and Lily followed him in, stopping dead at the sight that met them.

James, lying shirtless on top of his bedsheets, sweating and groaning.

Remus stopped dead. 'Mother of God.'

Sirius looked towards him, his expression panicked. 'I can't get him awake, he's just…lying there and…and...'

Lily pushed past the two dumbfounded seamen and knelt by James' bed, placing a hand on his forehead, then moving it down to his throat and chest.

'Fever.' She said, standing up and moving towards the end of his bed to seize his blankets and remove them entirely. 'He must have picked something up when we were in port.'

'But no-one else is sick.' Sirius pointed out, making Lily scowl in his direction as she lifted James' head to settle it more comfortably on the pillow.

'Well, he must have gone somewhere you didn't then.'

Remus closed his eyes and cursed. 'He went to that bloody inn didn't he? It's the only place he went without anyone.'

'Dorcas didn't say anything about there being any sickness there.' Sirius objected, possibly, Remus suspected, because he felt responsible for sending James somewhere where he could have contracted something.

'Maybe she didn't know.' Lily commented, still adjusting James' position on the bed. 'Some sicknesses come on very quickly; given that he's already ill when he was just in port yesterday, this seems like one of them.'

Remus' eyes flicked sharply to Lily. 'You know about sicknesses?'

She looked up at him with slightly irritated eyes. 'Lady of the Manor remember? It was my responsibility to care for the people on my father's estate. I've seen more than my share of illness and injury, and while I might not be an expert, I'm more of one than anyone else on this ship. I took care of Sirius' injury didn't I?'

Sirius grinned. 'Stroke of luck for him then.'

'Not so sure he'll see it like that.' Lily muttered as she turned away from the bed. 'Could you please get him into some lighter clothes while I get some supplies?'

'Lighter clothes?' Remus enquired as she left, and she twisted to look over her shoulder. 'Lighter fabric. He's burning up, and we don't want him to sweat too much.'

'Isn't that what you're meant to do?' Sirius asked. 'Sweat it out?'

Lily rolled her eyes at him. 'It's a miracle any of you ever survived to do any marauding you know. That's the _exact opposite_ of what you're supposed to do. If anything, we want him to cool down. So get to it.'

She slammed the door shut behind her and Remus looked at Sirius in amusement. 'Well ,that told you.'

'Just for that Remus, you can strip our esteemed Captain out of his breeches.'

Remus grimaced, but dutifully began to strip his oldest friend out of his sweat-soaked breeches while Sirius scoured his trunks for ones of a less dense fabric. He threw a pair over to Remus, who promptly wriggled James into them as fast as he could, wary of Lily's imminent return. Tough as she was, he wasn't certain her sensibilities were going to stand up to walking back into James' cabin and finding him naked and being manhandled by his first mate.

They'd just managed to get his clothes on and roll him back into the position Lily had left him in when the door opened and the lady herself re-appeared.

She stepped over to the bed and looked down at James, before dropping the basket she carried by his bedside and sitting down next to him.

'Right gentlemen.' She looked up at the hovering mates. 'I can deal with this; as few people as possible should come in and out. We should try to contain the sickness. Why don't you two go and keep everything running smoothly while I get him back on his feet. I can only imagine how sour-tempered he'll be if he wakes up and finds we've damaged his beloved boat.'

'Ship.' Remus corrected absently, still staring down at his captain.

'Out.' Lily pointed an imperious finger towards the door, and such was the natural authority behind her command that both men automatically took a step in that direction before realising that she had no right to order them around.

'Wait a moment.' Sirius spoke as a worrying thought occurred. 'If we need to limit the Captain's contact with the crew to prevent the spread of the fever, what about you? If you're going to sit in here with him, you're bound sure to catch it.'

'Well, that is a risk we'll have to take.' Lily answered as she pushed James' hair off his brow and peeled an eyelid up. 'Because one, I'm the only person with the faintest idea of how to care for him, and two, I'm the most expendable, since I'm not actually crew.'

'Lily, you aren't expendable.' Remus said gently. 'I'm sure…'

'Go, both of you. If Cook could bring some dinner to the door for me later, I'd be much obliged. Just for me though, none for him. You feed a cold but you starve a fever. '

She didn't look up again, and was only sure they'd left when she heard the door shut quietly.

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Lily dipped her cloth – or rather yet another strip of her petticoat, which was rather suffering on this voyage – into the bowl of water and began to gently dab all over James' chest for what seemed like the thousandth time.

He was still shivering, his body still wracked with cold sweats, and his hair was drenched through with it. She'd managed to get him to sip small amounts of water, but he was still unresponsive to her; that didn't stop her talking to him though. She talked constantly in a soft tone as she wiped the cloth over his face and upper body, about anything and everything, whatever came to mind. She told him about her father, about what little she could remember of her mother before she died, told him childhood stories about her brother and sister.

She told him about her father's manor, and what it had been like to grow up there, told him about her love of horses and dancing and the nights she used to sneak out of her room to climb a tree in the garden and watch the stars. She rather thought she should feel foolish, prattling away to him about things he wouldn't give the slightest damn about, but she didn't. It was surprisingly easy to just allow her mind to wander over things, to just let anything slip out after weeks of tight-lipped caution while her hands made repetitive soothing motions across his chest.

She fell asleep at some point in the night, and jerked awake with the rising sun to find her head pillowed on her arms which rested on his mattress next to his chest. She pushed her hair off her face and groaned into her palm before she remembered where she was and what she was doing; she looked quickly to James who was still soaked in sweat and stretched out on the bed. She sighed and stretched the knots out of her back before picking up her cloth and returning to wiping the sweat from James' brow.

She was running out of things to talk about. She sat on the bed and tilted James' head back, trying to get him to take some more water. There were only so many childhood reminiscences that she could prattle on about, and she was seriously considering starting on court gossip when James shifted under her hand.

'James?' She dropped her cloth back into the bowl of water and leaned her head down towards him. 'James?'

'…where…my parents…ask…find Lupin…'

Lily's eyebrow drew together in a frown at the garbled words. Delirium was not a good sign in the course of any illness, and she still had no way of easing his fever. She picked up the cloth again and instead of dabbing his skin with it she laid it across his forehead, taking his hand up in hers and moving up onto the bed to sit next to him. She sat there for some time, gripping his hand and watching him.

Diggory brought her lunch, knocking respectfully on the door before coming in.

'Out!' Said Lily sharply, but Diggory simply crossed to James' desk and placed the lunch tray down.

'I'll only stay a moment Miss Lily; I haven't had a chance to speak to you in private before now.' He spoke quietly. 'I just wanted to say that I never meant to cause you any upset by talking to you when I saw you on the ship. It was a shock to see a bit of my old life, and it just sort of slipped out. I hope I didn't cause trouble for you, and I just wanted to say that I won't say another word about it.'

'Didn't you already promise the Captain that?' Lily asked, letting go of James' hand to refresh the cloth on his brow; he shivered violently, and she rubbed his shoulders gently as she pinned him lightly down while he convulsed.

'I did.' Diggory answered. 'But I wanted to tell _you _that I wouldn't. I remember you; you were always kind. You came to my sister every day for three weeks once, to bandage her foot. You probably don't remember.'

Lily shrugged helplessly. 'I'm sorry. I visited so many people.'

Diggory nodded. 'Like I said, kind. A good person. Better than me. I never blamed your father for firing me you know. I was a fool. He was a good man, and he probably would have helped me if I'd been honest.'

Lily bowed her head, squeezing James' hand a little tighter for the comfort of feeling human warmth, even if he wasn't aware of it, feeling the pinch of grief that she doubted would ever stop. 'Yes. Yes he was.'

'…the king…you have to believe me…it wasn't…I didn't…Sirius knows…'

Lily turned her attention back to James as his body stiffened and he gasped out more fractured sentences.

'He's bad isn't he?'

She turned her head sharply as her hands rested on his chest to keep him lying still on the bed; normally she'd never have been able to hold him down, but he was in no condition to fight her. 'He is. But that information had better not spread to the crew.'

Diggory rocked on his heels. 'Can't you do anything?'

'Nothing more than I already am.' Her hands stayed firmly planted and her eyes fixed on James' face as she spoke. 'I don't even have any willow bark to take down the fever and numb the pain a little.'

Diggory was silent for a moment, then he spoke quietly. 'I…might know someone who could help. Someone who isn't too far away.'

Lily glanced up. 'A pirate?'

He shook his head. 'No. Definitely not a pirate. I was thinking of Rubeus Hagrid.'

Lily started. 'Hagrid? Hagrid who used to be a groom in our stables?'

Diggory nodded. 'That's the one. I ran into him a year or so back, he lives fairly close to here.'

'In a town?' Asked Lily cautiously.

'No. Near a village, but his cottage is on the beach. Nobody for a good few miles. There's no port, but we could drop anchor and use the longboats to go ashore.'

Lily twisted her shoulders to peer at him. 'Isn't this the kind of proposal you should be taking to the first mate?'

'Yes.' Diggory admitted frankly. 'But first of all they'd be much more likely to listen to you than me anyway, secondly, the crew talks and I know you're paying them to take you somewhere, and I guess you need to approve of any detours. Thirdly, I didn't want to drag someone from your past into your life if it was going to be a problem for you.'

Lily thought for a moment, her eyes fixed on his face. 'Tell Remus about Hagrid. Tell him I know him and I said he was trustworthy.'

Diggory nodded and left the room, and Lily turned her attention back to James as he began to convulse more violently, and her entire body stiffened as he began to speak in his delirium again, and he uttered a word she hadn't been expecting.

'…Snape…it wasn't me…my parents…I would never…Snape…killed…he killed…find Sirius…ask Albus…my fault…'

She'd knew she'd been curious about his past, and she still was, but she really, really didn't want to hear any more of this, didn't want to watch his face twist in an agony that she suspected was only partially caused by the physical pain of his illness. This was too private for her to hear, and she didn't feel any happiness at gleaning hints of his secrets from him, not like this. She moved closer to him on the bed as she felt his fever-wracked body begin to stiffen again, the convulsions increasing in both frequency and strength. Throwing any pretence of propriety to the wind, she pressed herself against him and used her own body weight to press him back down against the bed, praying that Remus would listen to Diggory and take James to Hagrid; she'd been angry with him for his refusal to confide in her, but she hadn't realised how much having his support had bolstered her, and now he was slipping away she felt the raw edges of panic at the thought of going back to being alone.

'James. James, please wake up.'

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**A/N: So we're about a third of the way through the story now - assuming I stick to my outline, and we all know how often I drift away from those - and I'd love to hear how you think it's going. My editing was a little sloppier than usual on this chapter too, so feel free to point out any erros you pick up, I won't be offended!  
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**Also, just a reminder that this story is happening because of Jily Pirate Fest on Tumblr (and to answer another common question, that's what the (JPF) I use as a break stands for) and you guys should totally check it out because not all the fics are being posted on FF or other sites, so you might miss your chance to read them if you don't!**


	6. In His Time Of Dying

**A/N: I don't like this chapter. I don't know why exactly; maybe because it's too long, but I can't seem to cut anything; I didn't want to push the last section into the next chapter. Anyway: as always I'm sorry I wasn't quicker with the update, I love and appreciate everyone who reads, reviews or otherwise and I'm on Tumblr as scared-of-clouds if you want to talk.**

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She wasn't sure how long it had been. Three days, maybe four. Could have even been just two. She was just too tired to take note of petty details like daylight and meals now. She'd barely left James' cabin since he'd fallen ill, partially for fear of carrying the illness to the crew, partially because she was scared of leaving him alone for too long. His fever was increasing, his convulsions were worsening, and it seemed that he was getting sicker by the hour. She'd even had Sirius bring her a change of clothes and she'd changed in his damn cabin with him lying on the bed, though she'd be lying if she said that she hadn't been blushing furiously the entire time. The crew were all surely aware of the situation by now, though perhaps they didn't know how serious it was; James' absence from deck and Lily's continuing presence in the Captain's cabin would be a clear signal to all but the dullest crew member that something was awry.

Remus had come in shortly after Diggory had left her to say that they were adjusting course to go to Hagrid's home in the hope of obtaining help for James; she rather thought he'd been expecting her to rail against it and complain about being delayed yet again on her trip, but even though she was desperate to find Matthew, it wasn't worth James' life. It wasn't worth anybody's life. Not to mention that she'd come to realise that James was right, that she stood no chance of finding Matthew without help, and he was the only person who'd ever offered any. If he died, she might as well throw herself overboard or resign herself to marriage to Snape. After all, she'd been lucky to stumble upon someone willing to help her this time; there was almost no possibility she'd be lucky twice.

She wiped her face over with a cloth, the cool water easing the burning in her eyes that came from lack of sleep, then she carried the bowl over to the bed and sat down next to James, tucking her legs up underneath her so she was perched alongside his torso, still unclothed and uncovered yet still baking hot with the fever that was burning its way through his body. She dipped the cloth into the water again and then ran it over his exposed chest, wishing that she could think of something - anything - that could lower his temperature. It was the rising temperature that was the danger, she knew that much; the strain on his heart would eventually be too great, unless his body could fight the illness off first. Still, in some ways they had reason to be optimistic; being in good health increased the possibility of fighting disease, and James was in very good shape. She blushed a little at the thought, shocked at herself for being aware of his physique, even when it was in regard to his health.

Still, it wasn't exactly surprising. She'd been locked in a room with his semi-naked body for God only knew how many hours now, it wasn't possible _not _to notice. She continued the routine of dipping the cloth and applying water to his chest, dipping and sponging without conscious thought; it had merely become something that she did without thinking about now. Somewhere over the course of the last few days she'd lost any and all apprehensions she'd ever felt about touching him; it was completely normal to her now to sit here with him and touch his flushed and heated skin, to brush his hair back from his face, to gently lift his eyelids to look at his pupils.

She knew she couldn't do any more, but she hated the feeling of impotence, of knowing that he was slipping away and she could do nothing about it save what she was already doing, and that wasn't enough. She hadn't ever thought that she would be comforted by having the support of James Potter, but now she was at risk of losing it, she realised how heartening it had been to have someone believe she was doing the right thing, even if it was a rogue with less respect for laws than anyone she'd ever met.

In the gathering dark of his cabin, with his strength waning with every passing hour, her thoughts turned ever darker as she grew more tired, more befuddled. It seemed as if she was cursed; everyone around her, everyone who ever aligned themselves with her in any way just…they all left her somehow. She felt a tear trickling down her cheek, but she didn't even have the energy to worry about washing it away.

She just dipped the cloth and sponged his chest, dipped the cloth and wiped the sweat from his brow, over and over.

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Remus rested his elbows on the wheel and let his posture slump. Exhausted didn't even begin to cover the way he was feeling right at that point. He hardly had the energy to keep the wheel straight and his legs from collapsing under him. Under cover of darkness, he could allow himself to let a little of the fatigue show, knowing that none of the crew would be able to see him.

Life at sea was hard, both physically and mentally, anyone who'd ever travelled by ship could tell you that. What they might not have known was the difference it made to have smart, capable people around to keep everything running smoothly. Since they'd had the Fawkes, Sirius, James and himself had been a team – hells, they'd been a team long before the ship had ever entered their imaginations – and now he was functioning without one of them he felt like he'd lost a limb.

By his best estimation, based on Diggory's descriptions, they were about half a day away from the village where they could apparently find Rubeus Hagrid, a former employee of Lily's father who was likely to have a good stock of medicines. He only hoped that Hagrid would agree to help and that they hadn't sailed to the arse end of beyond for nothing, though he rather thought that Lily might be able to persuade him to help even if he wasn't inclined to. She was fairly convincing when she wanted to be, and from what Diggory had said she'd been well thought of by most of her family's servants and tenants. Seeing the way the crew had responded to her, and she to them, he could well believe it.

A calloused hand landed on the wheel alongside his, making him jump. He hadn't realised how much he'd been slumping at his post, how little attention he'd been paying to the ship's progress until that moment.

'Go get some rest.' Sirius dug his elbow into Remus' ribs and pushed him aside, gripping the wheel and adjusting the course very slightly. 'You look bloody wrecked, and it's making the crew nervous. They know James is sick and they don't want to lose their first mate too; the poor buggers would have me in charge then, and we all know how that would go.'

'Sirius…'

'Oh, sod off to your cabin and get some rest. I can steer this ship just as well as you can, and I'll get someone to wake you when we sight the coast. Won't be until morning anyway.'

Remus stepped away from the wheel with a sigh, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to loosen the stiffness in them. 'I might just go and check on James first.'

'Then see if you can get Lily to eat something while you're there.' Sirius answered solemnly. 'The last three meal trays have come back untouched, and Cook screamed at me this morning for "letting the poor girl waste away". What does he want me to do, ram it down her throat? I'm not even sure she notices me coming in and out anymore, she's that tired.'

'I'll try.' Remus sounded dubious, and Sirius understood why; they may not have been acquainted with Lily for that long, but it was long enough to know that the possibility of getting her to do something she didn't want to do usually rested somewhere between "slim" and "none".

Still, Remus headed for the galley to brave the ire of Cook, a bear of a man who had taken a particular liking to Lily apparently based solely on her hair colour, and collect something he might be able to tempt her into eating. Much as he appreciated Sirius' clumsy attempts at mothering him, he wasn't at all sure that he'd be able to sleep; maybe his time would be better spent with Lily and James.

About twenty minutes later he crossed the main deck to James' cabin, a plate of bread and cheese in one hand; cheese was a rarity on board - and to be fair bread wasn't exactly readily available - and Cook probably wouldn't have parted with it to anyone but Lily, and Remus hoped that the obvious concern of the crew for her welfare would persuade her to have some.

He rapped lightly on the door but pushed it open without waiting for a response. The inside of James' cabin was dark, the drape pulled across the window shutting out the moonlight, and the lamps were out. Remus frowned and whispered Lily's name quietly.

There was no answer, and he assumed that he must have stumbled on one of the rare occasions that she left James alone. She never did so for longer than a few minutes, so he knew she would be back soon, though he couldn't fathom any reason she would have blown the lamps out when she left; perhaps they had simply gone out on their own. He knew the room well enough to find James' desk, and he located the lamp on it by feel. It had plenty of oil, so he pulled matches from his pocket and lit it, placing it carefully back on the desk and turning to James' bed.

To say he was shocked might have been an understatement. James lay stretched out on the bed, in exactly the same position he'd been in for the last two or three days, and Lily lay next to him, half curled up, her head slumped onto his shoulder, her arm thrown out across his upper body. Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure as to whether he should wake her and risk embarrassing her as well as disturbing her rest, or if it would be better to simply leave her there and pretend he'd never seen anything. It was obviously totally innocent, but he knew Lily would still be self-conscious about it; it was an incredible breach of etiquette and ladylike behaviour after all, and despite her unusual attitudes and apparent fondness for blackguards, Lily was a lady through and through.

In the end he left and took the plate with him; he'd take it to his cabin for now and would try to take it in for Lily again later. With any luck she'd wake up soon and they would never have to discuss the compromising position she'd been in. He closed his cabin door behind him and left the plate on the little table where his belongings were currently warring for space with Sirius'. He stripped down to his breeches and fell on his bed, determined to put every thought out of his head and get himself in shape for meeting Hagrid as the crew's leader, a position he'd never coveted and was not particularly comfortable in.

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She wasn't entirely sure what had woken her, but nothing could have prepared her for opening her eyes and seeing an expanse of muscled, bare chest. She shot upright, all tiredness forgotten as she realised that she had fallen asleep on James. She'd just…slumped over from exhaustion and passed out on his chest.

Wriggling back on the bed away from him, she quickly laid the back of her hand across his forehead, terrified that she may have inadvertently raised his temperature still further by unintentionally draping her body across his. Pursing her lips, she dragged her hand down over his face and to his chest where she laid it over his heart.

He didn't appear to be any warmer, and his heart didn't seem to be struggling any more than it had beforehand, but it wasn't any better either. She pushed herself off the bed and crossed the room to open the drape and let some light in; she'd pulled it shut to keep the heat of the sunlight out, but she rather thought it had just made it stuffier. The heat generated by the oil lamp probably wasn't helping either.

She froze at the thought. The lamp. She hadn't lit it; she must have been asleep long before it was dark enough for it to be necessary. Which meant that someone had come in and lit it, which meant that someone had seen her sleeping on the Captain's bed, with the Captain in it. She flushed at the thought.

There was a gentle rap at the door, and she quickly straightened herself up and tried to look as if she hadn't been sleeping. The door was pushed open by Remus, carrying a small plate of food. Her stomach rolled at the sight of it; she didn't know why exactly, but she had absolutely no appetite, and the idea of food was positively nauseating.

'Cook sent you this, and if you don't eat it I think there is a strong possibility he's going to lead a mutiny against Sirius and myself, with the single mission of tying you down and _forcing_ you to eat it.' Remus held out the plate encouragingly. 'He's concerned for you. And you need your strength anyway, because we've arrived.'

Her head jerked up, and she took the plate from Remus unthinkingly. 'We have?'

He inclined his head. 'Dropping anchor now. We'll take a small party to shore in a longboat.' He hesitated for a moment. 'Did you want to come?'

She looked nonplussed, she knew she did, but she couldn't fathom why he was suggesting it.

'We thought you might be the best person to convince Hagrid to listen. He knows you.'

Lily shook her head and abandoned her plate, untouched, on James' desk. 'He knows Diggory too. You should take him. I shouldn't leave James.'

Remus' eyes flicked to James' prone body. 'How is he?'

Lily felt the sting of tears against the back of her eyes, tears that she could only attribute to exhaustion and frustration and sheer panic, but she wouldn't allow them to fall. 'The illness is no worse, but…his strength is fading. I'm not sure how long he has without the proper medicines.'

Remus nodded grimly. 'Then I'll go and get him some.'

He turned and marched swiftly out of the door, and Lily sent a silent but fervent prayer after him as she turned back to James and settled herself next to him, one hand smoothing its way along his furrowed brow.

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Remus stood in the longboat, eyes straining towards the beach. Diggory stood with him while six other men manned the oars.

'Hagrid will help.' Diggory said definitely. 'Never met a nicer bloke.'

Remus put his hand on the hilt of his sword. 'I hope so. But one way or another, I'm getting whatever Lily needs to help the Captain.'

'It won't come to that.' Diggory's confidence didn't waver.

'Let's hope not.' Remus' eyes darted quickly to the crewman. 'We could use some good fortune.'

The longboat reached the shallows and all eight men jumped out, dragging the boat up onto the sand. The beach was more of a cove really, a relatively short stretch of sand sheltered by cliffs that bordered it on three sides. Remus issued some quick instructions, and then he and Diggory headed off up the beach towards a small house that was just within sight, tucked away under the cliffs, the watchful eyes of the remaining crew members following them.

They hadn't covered half the distance to the house when they heard cheerful whistling and an improbably large man stepped out from behind a large pile of boulders that the sea had presumably regurgitated there at some point.

'One o' the benefits of livin' in a cove like this,' the stranger began, 'is that I can usually see people comin' before they get 'ere. Gives me a chance ter decide if I want to be 'ome to visitors, as they say.'

He folded his arms as he looked at the two of them, and though Remus could see no sign of a weapon, he was forced to concede that the man in front of him might not have needed one at all. He'd never seen such a giant of a man in his life.

'So.' The enormous man continued. 'Should I be pleased ter see yeh or not?'

Diggory stepped forward. 'Been a while Hagrid, but I'd like to think you'd be pleased to see me. We're old drinking pals after all.'

Hagrid narrowed his eyes briefly as he looked at the two men in front of him, then he broke into a broad smile. 'Diggory! Didn't recognise yer in tha' get-up.'

He clapped Diggory on the back, and Remus was forced to suppress a smile as the pirate staggered a little under the force of the friendly blow. 'Hagrid, this is Remus Lupin. Lupin, Rubeus Hagrid.'

Hagrid offered his hand and Remus took it, careful to show no sign of hesitancy or wariness in front of a stranger; some things were inbuilt after years of association with rogues and scoundrels.

'Nice to meet yer.' Hagrid offered politely. 'Not much 'ere for people to visit fer. Was it me yeh were wanting?'

'Yes, actually.' Remus glanced sideways at Diggory who remained silent, tacitly letting the first mate provide as much or as little information as he thought necessary. 'We've a sick man on board, and Diggory thought that you might be able to help. Apparently you know quite a bit about medicines, and might have a few to hand for us.'

'I know a bit. I might 'ave something fer yeh.' Hagrid ran a hand over his bushy facial hair. 'What's wrong with 'im?'

'Fever.' Remus answered shortly.

'Aye, that's vague enough.' Answered Hagrid. 'I can't give you th' right medicine if I don't know what 'e's sick with. Could make 'im worse.'

Remus hesitated briefly. 'I don't know that he could_ get_ worse. He's pretty bad.'

Hagrid frowned. 'Yer should bring 'im ashore. Easier to bring 'im here than to ferry me back and for every time I need something.'

'I don't know that we can move him to be honest.' Remus frowned, trying to remember if Lily had said anything about whether James could be moved or not.

Hagrid smiled faintly. 'If 'e's as bad as yer say, then it prob'ly won't make a blind bit o' difference to move 'im. But 'aving 'im right here fer me to work on…well, tha' might make a difference.'

Remus considered a moment, then nodded. 'We'll bring him. We can discuss payment later. Dependent on results.'

Hagrid grinned again, a full smile this time, and clapped Remus on the back. 'Damned if I don't like yer. Let's see what we can do 'bout yer friend. Bring 'im up to th' house when you can.'

He turned and headed towards the house, leaving Remus and Diggory to head back towards the longboat.

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'Lily, you don't have to go.' Sirius protested. 'You can stay here and rest, you've not had a proper night's sleep for days. And Cook's _still _mad at me and Remus for not making you eat properly.'

'I_ know_ I don't have to go Sirius, but I'm the only one who can realistically tell Hagrid what's been happening. Being a little tired won't kill me; Hagrid not knowing a full and proper history of the illness _might _kill James.'

Lily continued to haphazardly throw random belongings into a travelling bag – supplied under protest by Sirius – with a complete lack of anything like the dignity and grace under pressure he'd expect from a lady of her birth.

'Still.' He folded his arms and frowned at her as he leant on the doorframe. 'Will you at least come back to the ship and rest once you've related everything necessary to Hagrid?'

'I make no promises.' Lily answered with a cocky grin, which rather eerily reminded him of James. 'Hagrid may need help, and I'm the most qualified to offer it. _But_, if there is an opportunity for me to rest a little, then I promise you I will.'

'Good.' The frown did not leave Sirius' face as Lily gathered her travelling bag up, threw on her cloak and crossed back to the door; he reached and took the bag from her, his face troubled.

She sighed as she looked up at him. 'Sirius.' She rose on her tiptoes so her lips could brush his cheek. 'James will be fine. We'll take good care of him.'

'It's not just that. I don't like anything about this.' He muttered as he followed her out on deck. 'I don't like that James is sick, but I also don't like that I'm going to be left in charge of the ship, and I most_ certainly_ don't like the way you and Remus have run yourselves ragged over the last few days.'

Lily crossed the deck to wait alongside the longboat, eyes fixed on James' cabin. The door opened and Diggory and Will emerged with James on a stretcher.

It was the first time that the majority of the crew had seen James since he'd fallen ill, and many were visibly shaken. Sirius cursed under his breath, then threw her an apologetic glance. She waved it off, completely understanding how much he didn't want to be left aboard ship with a shaky crew.

James' stretcher was placed gently into the longboat, and Lily joined him inside it before the crew lowered it down to the water. She saw a brief discussion between Sirius and Remus, with much arm waving involved, as six other men joined her in the boat, including Alec and Jack who both offered her a cheerful wink, as they customarily did.

After a few moments, Sirius swung himself over the side of the Fawkes and lowered himself into the longboats with a skill and ease that came only with practice. Noting Lily's questioning look, he cocked his head to one side. 'I won one, for once.'

She suppressed a smile and then turned immediately to James when his body tensed up and jerked. Sirius watched her for a moment as she held his shoulders to keep him in place, her hands firm but gentle as they rubbed and soothed; realising that the other crew members were also watching, he issued several barked orders, and the other men began to row, pushing the longboat to shore.

When the water became too shallow to row through, everyone but Lily and James jumped out to pull the boat the final stretch until it beached on the white sand. Diggory and Sirius lifted the stretcher with ease and began to walk up the beach, accompanied by Lily but leaving the other crew members with the boat.

Lily glanced ahead and saw the unmistakable shape of Hagrid making his way towards them; it had been years since she'd seen him, but she'd never forgotten him, or his kindness to a nosy young girl determined to pester him with endless questions about horses.

Hagrid reached them and greeted Diggory cheerfully, before nodding at Sirius and gesturing for them to follow him. They followed him to the low house of white stone nestled at the base of the cliffs, and he opened the door for them and waved them in.

'Put 'im right down there.' The light in the room was low, the small windows only allowing a little sun in, but there were oil lamps lit around the bed that Hagrid was gesturing towards, and Diggory and Sirius carefully transported James from the stretcher while Lily stayed anxiously back.

He was awfully still now, and that worried Lily more than the convulsions and hallucinations ever had; it was as if all the fight had gone out of him. Hagrid checked him over with hands that were surprisingly gentle for a man of his size, but then again that came as no revelation to Lily, who'd watched those hands soothe spooked horses and bandage injured limbs.

'What 'ave yer been givin' 'im?' He asked, not looking around as he continued to check James' heart, breathing, pupils.

Sirius and Diggory's eyes turned to Lily, and she licked her lips nervously before answering; Hagrid hadn't noticed her yet, and she wasn't surprised. In breeches and with the hood of her travelling cloak pulled up, she didn't look out of place amongst the men of the Fawkes, by deliberate design. Her voice though…that was a different matter entirely. Unmistakably female, and she knew she wouldn't be able to change her accent to hide her aristocratic tone. But this was Hagrid, and she just had to hope he was as good a man as she remembered.

'I haven't had any supplies at all, so he's had nothing. I've been trying to keep his temperature down, keep him taking water when possible and preventing him from injuring himself with the convulsions. That's all I could do for him.'

Hagrid turned at the sound of her voice, his eyes narrowing. 'Beg pardon miss, I didn't know there was a lady present.'

Gathering her courage, she pulled her hood down and stepped forward into the light cast from the lamps. 'That's all right Hagrid. I think you know me well enough to forgo pleasantries.'

His mouth fell open as he stared at her. 'Miss Lily? Lady Lillian?'

She smiled shyly. 'Hello.'

Hagrid stuttered. 'Well…Diggory said I'd know someone else on th' ship, but…I never thought…Miss Lily, what are yer doin' on tha' ship?'

Her smile fell off her face. 'It's a very long story. Which I'll be happy to tell you, but…can you help him first?'

Hagrid nodded. 'O' course. It's bad, but then yer know tha' don't yer? Wouldn't 'ave brought 'im 'ere otherwise. I got some stuff might 'elp.'

He crossed the small room to a large cupboard, pulling the door open to reveal rows of assorted bottles of various sizes and shaped, all carefully stoppered and seemingly labelled in a manner he could understand, though it was gibberish to Lily. He pulled a few bottles out and stepped back towards James, before glancing carefully at Lily.

'Why don't yer stay and 'elp fer a bit Miss Lily?' He asked quietly. 'Yer can tell me all about things back 'ome. I miss yer father's house sometimes.'

Lily smiled faintly and stepped over to the bed alongside the enormous man. 'My father's house misses you.'

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Remus privately decided that he loathed sand. It was impossible to move across quickly, and he was in somewhat of a rush. It had been a tricky decision, but in the end he had left Cook and Stevenson on board and in charge, with instructions to do _absolutely nothing_ except in the case of real emergency, and had sent the rest of the crew ashore to seek amusement in the village that Diggory recalled was a short walking distance up the coast. There was very little there apparently, just a small inn, but the idea of a drink was good enough for the crew and they disembarked happily, though there were a few worried glances cast in the direction of Hagrid's house.

He knew why. He'd been right in what he'd said to Lily – Merlin, had that only been two weeks ago? It seemed a short lifetime – when he'd tried to explain that _yes,_ the men were afraid of James, and who wouldn't be? He may not have been the strongest or largest man on the ship, but he was the most accomplished fighter, probably the cleverest man on board too, and he knew how to be utterly ruthless when the situation called for it. But the fact that they feared his temper and his bad moods didn't mean that they didn't admire him, didn't respect his abilities and skills. Some of the younger crew members viewed him with something akin to worship, and if they lost him…well, he wasn't sure any of them would be minded to sail on together without him.

If Sirius was the one with the sense of adventure, the drive to always move on, and he was the level-headed thinker, the man who saw the details, then James…James was the heart and soul of the ship and the crew.

He reached Hagrid's house at last, to find Sirius sitting outside on a bench with a jug of what was presumably ale.

'Well?' It was about he could manage to get out as he looked at his childhood friend, slumped down in his seat. Sirius raised eyes that seemed hollow and lacking any of their normal spark.

'Dunno. No change. Lily says that's good, 'cause he's not getting any _worse_, but…they're thinking that the medicines should have him improving by now.'

Remus sat down next to him. 'So we wait?'

Sirius raised his mug. 'That's what I'm doing.'

Remus tapped his fingers on his leg. 'I sent the crew ashore, left Cook and Stevenson.'

'Good plan.'

They sat in silence then, neither of them having anything important to say, and all reserves of small talk used up at some point over the 23 years they'd known each other. Neither knew how long they waited, but eventually Hagrid came out, face grim.

'He's bad.' Hagrid sat down next to Sirius and sighed. 'He's had willow bark, yarrow, elderflower tincture. I think he's too far gone for th' medicines to work.'

Remus and Sirius stared at him, both completely unwilling and unable to process the implication. 'There's something else you can do though?' asked Remus, his eyes fixed on Hagrid's profile.

The enormous man ran a hand over his beard thoughtfully. 'There's one thing…one thing we could try, an' I'm not makin' yer any guarantees, 'cause I've never seen it done meself…but there's stories 'bout 'ow they used ter cure fever by coolin' the body. Tha's what Miss Lily was tryin' to do fer him before yer got 'im 'ere; smart girl tha' one, always was. It's the…pressure of the body heatin' up see that's killin' 'im, the body weren't meant to take tha' kind o' strain…but coolin' 'im down real fast now…well, it's kill or cure. It's hard on the heart see, it might jus' stop beatin'.'

He sighed again and looked out to sea. 'They used ter put the sick man in a cold runnin' stream, make 'im as cold as possible as quick as possible…beat the fever back, see? You soak the body till its freezin', give it a chance ter fight back. There's a stream in tha' little patch o' woods up towards the 'ead of the beach…we could try it. But…they didn't call it kill or cure fer nothin'.'

'What are the chances?' Asked Sirius quietly, and Hagrid sighed again.

'Couldn't tell yer. Like I said, never seen it done. But I 'aven't got anythin' else that will help 'im now. But yer should know, it'll be a huge strain on 'im. It'll give 'is body a massive shock; he'll need a strong heart to survive this.'

'There's none stronger.' Remus said quietly and Hagrid managed a faint smile.

'Then 'e's still got a chance. An' he's luckier than most; plenty o' people just get left to die when they get fever. Not many with friends who'll fight for 'em. Or young ladies who'll sit up fer days with 'em.' Hagrid gave them both a slightly disapproving look.

'We tried to get her not to. Tried to get her to rest. Might as well have saved our breath.' Sirius muttered, before draining the last of his ale.

'Aye, tha' sounds like Miss Lily. Always knew 'er mind tha' one did.' Hagrid stared out at the ocean again. 'I was right sorry to hear about her father. Liked 'im. Great man. Fair, an' kind. She's a credit to 'im.'

He snorted suddenly in disgust. 'Of all th' people to try and promise her to: Snape! I remember th' day 'er father threw the 'ole family out o' the house.' He looked up at the two pirates sitting alongside him. 'You're good men too, to help 'er.'

Remus shifted uncomfortably. 'She's paying us.'

Hagrid grinned. 'An' a motley crew o' pirates like yourselves never once thought about dumping her overboard or marooning 'er somewhere and just keepin' the money?'

It was Sirius turn to shift a little. 'We agreed to her terms.'

Hagrid nodded. 'Pirates who keep ter terms too. No wonder Diggory likes sailin' with you lot. Like I said, good men.' He jerked his head towards the house. 'He a good man too?'

This time there was no hesitation from Remus. 'The best.'

Hagrid grinned again. 'Then let's see if we can get 'im sorted. We just best 'ope 'is heart is as strong as yer think it is.'

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The tremors racked James' body, and Lily bit her lip nervously as she watched the cold water run over him, his skin turning pale and icy looking, losing that deep tan that long hours under the sun had given him. His lips were blue, his hair was plastered to his face and every muscle in his body twitched and shook.

'Are you sure about this?' She asked again, her voice breaking on the last word.

'No.' Answered Remus, without looking away from his best friend's body. 'But it's the last option left to us.'

Hagrid reached a gentle hand down and touched James' icy skin. 'Tha' should do it. Let's get 'im out.'

He lifted James' upper half up by the shoulders and Sirius stepped forward to take his legs; they lowered him onto the stretcher and began to carry him back to the house, only a short distance away, Lily and Remus following along behind.

Lily thought they must look like a funeral procession; pallbearers carrying the body while mourners followed. Morbid thoughts, but she seemed unable to find anything _but_ morbid thoughts at the moment.

Once James was settled back on the bed in the house, Lily sat next to him and began to try to get him to take sips of water, paying no attention to the others. Hagrid beckoned for the two other men to follow him outside, and they walked a few steps outside the door.

'I don't know 'ow long it'll take now.' He spoke quietly. 'He stood up to it pretty well, and 'is heart is still goin' so all we can do is wait. By morning…well…'

'Kill or cure.' Said Remus quietly.

'Yeah.' Hagrid eyed him sadly. 'Yeah, tha's the point.'

They were silent for a moment, then Hagrid spoke again. 'Yer should go back to yer ship. Get some sleep. Nothin' yer can do 'ere.'

'Nothing we can do there either.' Sirius said glumly.

'Then clean th' ship up fer 'im.' Said Hagrid. 'Go and do anythin' but sit here and work yerselves up.'

Remus nodded, recognising the truth in Hagrid's words. The pair of them were already stir-crazy, and they'd only get worse if they attempted to sit outside James' sick room with nothing to do and no-one to talk to but each other.

'I'll get Lily, maybe I can convince her to rest now.' Sirius moved back towards the door but was stopped by Hagrid's hand on his arm.

'If yer don't mind takin' a bit o' advice.' Hagrid began. 'Let 'er take care o' him tonight.'

'She's_ been_ taking care of him.' Sirius protested, careful to keep his voice low enough for her not to overhear. 'She's exhausted.'

'I know.' Hagrid nodded. 'But if I know 'er, she'll want ter see it through. One way or another.' He hesitated for a moment before stepping to one side and gesturing at the open doorway. 'Take a look at 'er.'

Lily was still sitting on the bed next to James, but she had given up trying to get him to take any water; she'd curled her legs up under her and was just sat quietly watching him. Whether consciously or not, her hand had reached for one of his, linking their fingers together while she kept her silent vigil over him.

Neither Remus nor Sirius had the mental strength to give the situation before their eyes the proper consideration, so they simply stood there for a moment and absorbed the image of the rebellious noblewoman and the honourable pirate.

'Poor lost soul.' Hagrid's voice was low and quiet, and possibly more serious than either of them had heard it before. 'Let 'er stay with 'im.'

Sirius turned to look at Remus, who opened his mouth and then hesitated; neither man was capable of properly processing what they were seeing. They were just too tired to think about the implications. Hagrid spoke again, his voice still as low and solemn as before.

'If yer were God, and yer looked down tonight and saw th' two o' them…well you might not 'ave a lot o' sympathy fer a pirate, but…mightn't yer take pity on 'er?'

Sirius broke the silence. 'I wouldn't class myself as a religious man, and I don't know that I believe in a God but…I'll take any edge we can get right now. It can't do any harm to let her sit with him.' He glanced away from Remus towards Hagrid. 'Can you at least get her to eat something?'

He nodded thoughtfully. 'I've got a stew on the fire. Why don't yer all 'ave some before yer go back to th' ship? She might be more inclined t' eat if everyone else is eatin' too.'

Remus nodded slowly, and the two pirates followed Hagrid back into the house.

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She wasn't sure what time it was, but it hardly mattered. She hadn't paid attention to the passing of hours for what felt like days. It was late, and the only light was the starlight that filtered in through the little windows of Hagrid's house.

It had been some time since they'd immersed James' body in that stream, against her rather vehement protests - kill or cure, the very idea had appalled her - and Lily had to admit that she was a little surprised that he was actually doing better. His heart was still strong, his convulsions had lessened, the hallucinations had stopped entirely. His temperature was still high, a light sheen of sweat still coating his body, but his colour was better, his skin less clammy.

Hagrid had warned her not to get her hopes up too much, had said that patients had been known to improve a little right before the end, offering false hope to family and friends. She'd heard of that phenomenon herself once, from a physician acquaintance of her father's she'd called in for a lady on the estate. He'd called it nature's cruellest trick. She just hoped and prayed that it wasn't the case here; over the last few days she'd come to feel rather keenly that her fate was rather tightly bound up with James' at the moment. He wanted her money, she needed his help. For whatever reason, call it fate, coincidence, whatever, she'd found probably the one person in the entire damn country who was both willing and able to help her, and she wasn't letting go of him. Without James, she would be adrift and alone, and Sirius and Remus would both fall apart, and God only knew what would happen to the ship and the crew. Surely the world wouldn't take a man needed by so many.

His shoulders stiffened and his body shifted on the bed. His lips parted, and a muffled word came out, too low for her to properly hear. She felt the useless tears build up behind her eyes again, and she choked back the sob that wanted to break out as she reached out to press his shoulders back down onto the bed. Convulsion accompanied by hallucination, for the first time since the immersion. It hadn't worked. Nature had played its trick, and James was dying in front of her eyes.

'Lily?' He mumbled, and she froze, hands still in place on his chest. Surely he wasn't hallucinating something about _her_? He hadn't said her name once in the days since he'd fallen ill.

'Lily?' He _wasn't _hallucinating. He wasn't dreaming, he wasn't dying, he was _speaking_. Actually speaking to her. He knew she was there, he was aware of his surroundings, _he was waking up_.

'James?' She leaned further over him, bringing her face closer to his, her hands still resting on his shoulders. She realised then that his face had almost normal colour, that his eyes were fluttering open, the pupils back to normal size, the redness gone from them and the hazel shining again, if a little duller than normal.

'I…feel like…I've…taken a sword…through the chest.' He managed.

She nodded, biting her lip nervously as she tried to discreetly take account of his appearance. 'You haven't. You've been ill. Fever. But you're fine now, you're going to be fine. Try and sleep, and you should feel better in a few hours. I'll wake you.'

He was asleep before she finished the final sentence, his body driven beyond the point of exhaustion. She adjusted his pillow, and pulled the blanket over his body to chest height, noting triumphantly that for the first time in days he actually looked as though he was just sleeping. She stepped quietly away from the bed, crossed the room to the door and opened it quietly. She slipped out, tiptoeing past Hagrid who was snoring as he slept sitting up on the bench outside his front door, and walked a short distance down the beach, until she was sure she was out of earshot; then she collapsed onto the sand and cried until her sides hurt.

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**A/N: Hagrid's accent is hard to write, and I wasn't going to cross-check every word with the books so it's not exactly right, but it ****_is _****the best it's getting! I know that his characterisation might raise a few eyebrows, but I've often felt that people unfairly consider him stupid, and I feel like that's largely because of his accent and his openness about his emotions, when actually he has a very instinctive kind of intelligence (see his conversation with Harry at the end of GOF). That's just how I see him. **

**Also, I'm not in any way suggesting that dipping yourself in a freezing cold stream will cure illness. It's just one of the things they used to****_ believe_**** worked, along with bleeding and purging and a number of other unpleasant things, and it's entirely coincidental that James recovered; you could say he got better despite it, not because of it. (Same goes for the idea of 'starving a fever' mentioned in the last chapter)**


End file.
